Jets hire Idzik as GM
The New York Jets announced Friday that they hired John Idzik as general manager.
Idzik replaces Mike Tannenbaum, who was fired after the regular season.
Idzik was with the Seattle Seahawks since 2007, most recently as vice president of football administration. He oversaw the team's contract negotiations, salary cap compliance and the football operations budgets.
The Jets reportedly interviewed at least 10 candidates before deciding on Idzik.
"After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice," chairman & CEO Woody Johnson said in a statement. "During his two decades in the NFL, John helped build a Super Bowl championship team in Tampa Bay, an NFC championship team in Arizona and, most recently, a team in Seattle that narrowly missed reaching the NFC championship game.
"John has seen first-hand what's necessary to construct a winning team and has worked with some of the most innovative and successful coaches in the NFL, including Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy, Dennis Green, Jon Gruden and Mike Holmgren. Drawing on 20 years of NFL experience, John, working with Rex, will get the Jets where all of us want to be."
Idzik coached at Duke, the State University of New York at Buffalo and for the Aberdeen Oilers (Scotland) of the British American Football League.
Starting in 1993, he spent 11 seasons in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office, working his way up to assistant general manager in 2001. In 2004, he began a three-year stint as senior director of football operations for the Arizona Cardinals, before going to Seattle.
"I am honored and extremely excited to be joining the New York Jets," Idzik said in a statement. "It has been very enlightening getting to know Mr. Woody Johnson, Rex Ryan and Neil Glat and I am very grateful for them making me feel very welcomed as a member of the Jets family. I am eager to get started building on the foundation that is already in place."
The Jets were 6-10 in 2012 and missed the playoffs for a second straight season.