How Is New York Jets GM Joe Douglas Doing With Waiver Claims Compared With Mike Maccagnan?

Most of the intrigue surrounding the Jets’ position as the worst team in the NFL centers around the pursuit of the No. 1 draft pick next spring, of course. But there is another, often-overlooked fringe benefit to being at the bottom of the NFL, a perk that New York general manager Joe Douglas has been using in recent weeks. 

When NFL players are waived, other teams can put in a claim for that player within 24 hours. If multiple teams claim that player, priority goes to the team with the worst record. Of course, the only winless team in the league at the moment is the 0-9 Jets, who will visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Thus, nobody currently can block Douglas’ path if he wants to pluck a player off the waiver scrap heap. 

How are he and his staff doing thus far, since Douglas took over the job in June 2019? And how do their results stack up against predecessor Mike Maccagnan and his staff?  

Thus far, the results are somewhat similar, although Douglas has plenty of time to continue re-writing his own history. In the past 10 days, the Jets have claimed cornerback Corey Ballentine from the New York Giants and center-guard Pat Elflein from the Minnesota Vikings. Both are recent draft picks who fell out of favor with their original teams. 

Ballentine, a sixth-round selection of the Giants in 2019, practiced this past week and is expected to see action today for the Jets’ injury-ravaged secondary. Elflein, a third-round pick in 2017, is expected to join the team in the coming week once he passes COVID protocols. 

Elflein was the 19th waiver claim awarded to the Jets under Douglas’ watch, according to the website, The Football Database. That counts the fact that safety Bennett Jackson, currently on the roster, twice was claimed off waivers from Baltimore. Of those 18 players, seven are on the current roster. They are Ballentine, Elflein, Jackson, wide receiver-punt returner Braxton Berrios, defensive end John Franklin-Myers, running back Ty Johnson and reserve offensive tackle Conor McDermott. 

Jackson made his Jets’ debut on special teams against New England. Berrios, the team’s backup slot receiver, has 24 receptions for a 9.3-yard average with two touchdowns. He has an NFL-high 13 fair catches on punt returns. 

The 24-year-old Franklin-Myers has two tackles for loss and a sack as part of the defensive-line rotation and has been a disruptive force. He could grow into a larger role in the future. 

McDermott, signed as a free agent in the off-season, re-upped for a one-year extension last week. Terms are not yet available. His Pro Football Focus grade is only 56.4, but apparently Douglas has seen enough from him to trust McDermott as a backup going forward.

Johnson had a 34-yard run in his second carry as a Jet, but has been buried on the bench since then, thanks to head coach Adam Gase’s fixation with veteran Frank Gore.

Three other players claimed on waivers are on the expanded practice squad. None has seen game action. 

As for the failures, perhaps the most spectacular one was kicker Kaare Vedvik, likely recommended by Jets director of player personnel Chad Alexander, who worked with Douglas in Baltimore. Vedvik had been traded by the Ravens to Minnesota during the 2019 preseason but was waived after two bad preseason performances with the Vikings. In his only game with the Jets, he missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt and a PAT in a one-point loss to Buffalo, and was waived himself shortly afterward.      

As for Maccagnan and his right-hand man, vice president of player personnel Brian Heimerdinger, they were awarded 33 waiver claims under Maccagnan’s watch, which officially came to an end when Maccagnan was fired on May 15, 2019. For purposes of this study, let’s only count the first 30, considering the claim of former Miami reserve quarterback Luke Falk on May, 2019 obviously was driven by Gase, the former Miami coach.  

Also, it’s unclear who was at the steering wheel on May 14 when offensive tackle Calvin Anderson and wide receiver Xavier Ubosi were claimed off waivers, both from New England. Neither stuck around very long, but let’s be generous and not put them on Maccagnan’s ledger because it’s unknown who was making the personnel calls at that juncture. 

Of those 30 players, one remains on the roster. He is defensive end Tarell Basham, claimed off waivers from Indianapolis in 2018. He has had two sacks both this season and last year and, much like Franklin-Myers, has been a disruptive force for a team starved for a pass rush.  

Other notable claims by Maccagnan included cornerback Darryl Roberts, who started 26 games over four seasons before being cut in March; nose tackle Mike Pennel, a solid member of the defensive-line rotation in 2017 and 2018 and defensive end Kony Ealy, who played well for the Jets early in 2017 before tailing off. He was not re-signed and is out of the league. 

Also, there was tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who had 50 receptions and three touchdown catches for New York in 2017 but later signed with the Raiders and now is out of the NFL.  

Maccagnan’s greatest waiver success turned into his most spectacular failure when he plucked kicker Jason Myers from Seattle in 2018 and he became a Pro Bowler for New York that season. But the Jets let him walk in free agency and he re-signed with the Seahawks for a four-year deal with $5.5 million in guaranteed money, per overthecap.com. 

However, Maccagnan and Heimderdinger were able to trade waiver claim Ronald Martin, a defensive back, to the Colts in August 2017 for long snapper Thomas Hennessey, who has held that spot for the Jets ever since. Douglas would be fortunate to get someone as useful with the sixth pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, which he acquired from San Francisco in exchange the Jets’ seventh-round pick in 2021 and defensive end Jordan Willis, a waiver claim who didn’t fit into New York’s plans.  

Douglas and his staff have plenty of time to outpace what Maccagnan did in this area, and if merely two or three such claims become key contributors, they will have done well. It remains to be seen if they can turn Ballentine’s career around, because teams usually do not give up on promising corners, as the Jets have found out the hard way in their dealing with Indianapolis (see below).

Hoosier Daddies? The release of Pierre Desir on Tuesday marked the third time this season the Jets have parted ways with a former Indianapolis Colts cornerback. Nate Hairston was waived on Oct. 1 and Quincy Wilson was waived on Nov. 6. Desir was signed as a free agent in March, one day after being released by Indy, and Hairston and Wilson’s services were acquired by the Jets in trades with the Colts. 

The common denominator in all of this almost certainly is assistant general manager Rex Hogan, who previously was Indianapolis’ vice president of player personnel. Yes, it can be argued that Wilson wasn’t given a fair shake by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who barely used him even after he returned from a concussion suffered in Week 2 against San Francisco. Still, you have to wonder if Douglas will be so eager to listen to Hogan’s input on ex-Colts going forward. Especially if they play cornerback.