Days before the conclusion of their tumultuous season, the Jets interviewed another candidate for their general manager vacancy.
On Thursday, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick was the fourth known candidate to interview for the team’s general manager position after Jets owner Woody Johnson fired former general manager Joe Douglas on Nov. 19.
Former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, former Titans GM Jon Robinson, and Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy were previously interviewed for the role.
Riddick and any other candidate not under contract with other teams can currently interview with the Jets. Candidates working for a team cannot be interviewed until after the regular season concludes on Jan. 5.
In November, Johnson hired The 33rd Team, an analytics, media, and consulting group headed by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and former Dolphins and Vikings GM Rick Spielman, to help assist them in both their general manager and coaching searches.
On Monday, former Jets coach Rex Ryan told ESPN New York radio this week that he anticipated being interviewed for the coaching role. Former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera interviewed for the job on Thursday.
Before joining ESPN in 2013, Riddick, 55, was a safety in the NFL for nine seasons (49ers, Falcons, Browns, Raiders, and Seahawks). After his playing days were over, Reddick moved to the front office, first working as a pro scout with Washington from 2001-04.
From 2005-07, Riddick was Washington’s director of pro personnel and maintained that position until he became a pro scout with the Eagles in 2008. In 2009, he became the assistant director of pro personnel and was finally promoted to the Eagles director of pro personnel from 2010 to 2013.
Since leaving the Eagles organization, Reddick has been an NFL and college football analyst for ESPN and ABC. He is well respected in league circles, so much so that in 2020, Reddick interviewed for both the Lions and Texans general manager positions before those vacancies went to Brad Holmes and Nick Caserio, respectfully.
Whoever Johnson hires as the Jets’ general manager will help oversee their coaching search. On Oct. 8, Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh following a 2-3 start.
Douglas was fired after registering a 30-64 mark during his five-plus season tenure as general manager. During that span, the Jets did not make the playoffs or finish with a winning record (2019-24).
The Jets’ next general manager will likely make sweeping changes after a 4-12 season, which ends with one game against the Dolphins on Sunday. Some of those changes will include the future of Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, who was acquired in a midseason trade from the Raiders.
Since Saleh was fired, the Jets have gone 2-9 under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
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