Nobody likes losing their job, and that too in the NFL, where competition seems to grow larger each day. Well, Jets coach Robert Saleh may not be fortunate enough to see out his contract as owner Woody Johnson break his 25-year record of not sacking any head coach mid-season. Although the Jets won 2 out of their five games this season, Johnson felt like they were going nowhere with the inconsistency.

This might have led to the Jets owner making this decision that seemingly caught Saleh blindsided. Taking with Jay Glazer of Fox Sports NFL, the Jets coach (former) expressed that he was “blindsided” by Johnson walking into his office to let him go. He even conveyed his disappointment as Saleh thought he had a good roster this time, and if given time, he would have turned things around.

But after five matches into the season and pressure to qualify for playoffs after 13 years of absence. The Jets owner might have thought it was the right time for him to make this hard decision, “This was not an easy decision, but we are not where we should be given our expectations.” Well, this wasn’t the first time Johnson talked about higher expectations going into this season after the Jets finished with a 7-10 campaign last season.

Referring to the roster that was put in place to break the playoff hoodoo, Woody said, “We have all the talents, and we have to deploy talent properly. This is it. This is the time to go. We’ve got to produce this year. We have to do a lot better than seven, definitely.” Given the start they had this season, it didn’t look like the Jets would be anywhere near the 7 games Johnson talked about at the beginning. But considering the way this decision was made, did Aaron Rodgers have a part to play in it?

Is Aaron Rodgers anywhere to be blamed after Robert Saleh’s midseason firing?

On going through the 3-season tenure of Robert Saleh, there was one problem that seemed to catch everyone’s attention. Him facing instability with QBs, as the Jets coach started six QBs during his short stint in New York. Zach Wilson (33), Mike White (7), Joe Flacco (5), Trevor Siemian (3), Tim Boyle (2) and Aaron Rodgers (6) are the games each QB started under Robert Saleh. But this defensive expertise was there for everyone to see, as the Jets’ defense ranked 1st in points per drive, 1st in EPA per play and 3rd in success rate throughout Saleh’s guidance.

But there were shouts that Saleh often blamed Rodgers’ ACL last season for the poor season they had in 2023. Even some players “grew tired of the way Saleh fawned over Rodgers,” as reported by the Athletic’s Dianna Russini and Zack Rosenblatt. Well, coming into this season, Rodgers took on the leadership role pretty convincingly, to say the least. Over the five games he started this term, the four-time NFL MVP recorded 1,093 yards, seven TDs and four interceptions. His 81.6 passer rating remains one of the best among all the QBs this season.

Considering the way Rodgers has performed with his tailor-made offense. It could be a Woody Johnson decision, after all. This makes us think about who could be next in line to replace Saleh and help Rodgers and co-push towards a playoff berth this season. For now, we don’t know, but there could be a few surprises waiting for everyone, as we received one today from the Jets owner.