Jets owner Woody Johnson says quarterback is 'the missing piece'

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Woody Johnson would not give a playoff mandate for next season, but the Jets’ owner believes the team is “loaded” and missing only one piece: a quarterback.

To fill that void, Johnson said he is “absolutely” willing to spend big money on a veteran quarterback if general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh want to go that route.

“That’s kind of the missing piece,” Johnson said Thursday from his office. “Defense was an unbelievable story that you saw this year from last place [last season] to close to the top in defense. If you can do the same thing in offense, it looks pretty good.”

The Jets missed the playoffs for the 12th straight year by losing their last six games, thanks in large part to quarterback play.

Zach Wilson regressed in his second NFL season and likely will be a backup next year. The Jets are expected to pursue a proven quarterback either through a trade or free agency, with Derek Carr, Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppolo as possibilities.

Johnson said he will have some say but is entrusting Douglas and Saleh with making the right call.

“I’m a voice, but the decision is made by the coach and by the general manager,” Johnson said. “If it’s a player, the general manager takes the lead. I can add my two cents, but that’s all it is. I can argue and try to get a better decision . . . But the ultimate decision-making is Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas.”

Saleh said Johnson gives him and Douglas “full autonomy with regards to the decision- making.”

Johnson called this past season “a roller coaster” and the ending “very frustrating.” He expressed belief that Douglas and Saleh will assemble the team that ends the NFL’s longest current playoff drought.

On the 54-year anniversary of the Jets’ only Super Bowl, Johnson wouldn’t make a playoffs-or-fired edict.

“I don’t do mandates,” he said. “We don’t want a long wait. Fifty-four years from the last Super Bowl is too long, way too long. I’d like to change that fast. But mandates don’t work.”

When asked if he expects the Jets to make the playoffs next season, Johnson said, “I expect to make the playoffs every year. You want it for the players and the fans and the coaches. This team is loaded, I think, and ready to go.”

It all goes back to the quarterback situation and Wilson’s struggles.

Johnson said Wilson “had a tough year.” He saw Wilson’s confidence level go down, but he said he still has confidence in the second-year quarterback.

Johnson said he’s seen “some kernels of real talent” from the quarterback the Jets took with the No. 2 overall pick in 2021, but he wouldn’t say he believes Wilson can be a starter for the Jets.

“What Robert wants to do is he’ll continue to develop him,” Johnson said. “He’s not going to give up on him. We’ve got him now; just try to get that kernel of excellence out of him.”

Johnson also agreed with former offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur’s sentiment that the Jets “failed” Wilson and should have had him watch a veteran during his rookie season instead of handing him the starting job.

“I don’t think we did everything the right way,” Johnson said. “If he sat behind a veteran, [but] which veteran do you have in mind? We didn’t have a veteran. I think we could have done a better job . . . and we will do a better job next year.”

Regarding LaFleur’s departure, Johnson denied being part of the “decision-making tree.” He said he had some private conversations with Douglas, Saleh and LaFleur, though.

Johnson also said he doesn’t believe Jets fans “are tired of” losing. He said he spends time with them in the parking lot before games and they see things are changing.

“They’re optimistic, but they’ve been optimistic,” Johnson said. “ . . . They want wins and they deserve wins. I’ll try to get them wins. I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen. No stone unturned. Saleh will do it. Douglas will do it.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.