The Jets have fired GM Mike Maccagnan as GM, effective immediately, the team announced Wednesday, with Adam Gase taking over as acting GM.
The announcement was made by chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson.
"This morning, I informed Mike that he was being relieved of his duties as General Manager of the team, effective immediately," Johnson said in a statement. "Mike helped to execute the strategic vision of the organization during the last four seasons and especially the past few months. However, I came to the decision to make a change after much thought and a careful assessment of what would be in the best long-term interests of the New York Jets. I will start a search for our new General Manager immediately. In the interim, Coach Gase will be the acting General Manager. I would like to thank Mike for his time and efforts during his tenure, and I wish only the best for him and his wife Betty."
Along with Maccagnan getting axed, VP of Player Personnel Brian Heimerdinger was also fired, reports SNY's Ralph Vacchiano.
There were whispers over the last few weeks that there was a rift between Gase and Maccagnan, with Gase saying last week that those whispers had pissed him off.
"Unless I say it, it's really irrelevant to me," Gase said. "I don't know who decides, gets to put that stuff out there. It kind of pisses me off a little bit. Because we have discussions on everything -- that's our job. We have to work through so much stuff, that's what we gotta do. That's all we've done since we've been here. Since we've started, we just constantly are in communication -- whether he's coming in to my office or I'm going to his office."
Asked if it was healthy to have disagreements with Maccagnan, Gase said yes.
"If it wasn't, what are we doing this for? If everybody just agreed on everything, it'd be boring. You need to have a little excitement every once in a while."
While the firing of Maccagnan didn't come completely out of nowhere, the fact that the Jets allowed him to guide the team through free agency and lead their Draft -- where they had the No. 3 overall pick -- only to fire him before the season seems curious at best and like total lunacy at worst.
As far as a potential long-term replacement for Maccagnan, Eagles' VP of Player Personnel Joe Douglas "has been discussed in league circles for a while" as a potential GM for the Jets, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Douglas was director of college scouting for the Bears in 2015 -- the same season Gase was offensive coordinator with the Bears.