Why Did Jets Hire Rick Spielman? Ex-Vikings GM Details New Role In NY Front Office

The Jets continue their front office facelift heading into 2025...

Feb 27, 2019; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Minnesota Vikings general manger Rick Spielman speaks to media during the 2019 NFL Combine at Indianapolis Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

It's been an offseason of change for the New York Jets, and a new regime is continuing to scale its football operations before the new NFL calendar year gets underway.

The Jets have a first-time head coach in Aaron Glenn and a first-time general manager in Darren Mougey. Inexperienced braintrust isn't inherently a bad thing, but they'll certainly need plenty of help in navigating their respective new roles.

The Jets employed the services of The 33rd Team, a media company comprised mainly of experienced NFL executives, to help with their head coach and GM searches. One of those execs was former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman, who held that role from 2012 to 2021.

Evidently, the Jets enjoyed working with Spielman so much they decided they'd like to keep him around. Spielman announced Thursday that he would be serving as a senior football adviser for the Jets during the 2025 campaign.

On his podcast, With the First Pick: An NFL Draft Podcast from CBS Sports, Spielman detailed his new duties with the Jets, which he said won't include any major decision-making power.

“What I’m doing, I’m going to be helping in any way that I can with Aaron Glenn, with Darren Mougey, the new general manager,” Spielman said. “Right now my biggest project is trying to rebuild the football operations side of things. So, there are a lot of changes going on up there, and I kind of feel honored and privileged that they called me and asked me to be a part of it going forward."

“Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey are the final decision makers,” he later added. “I'm just there as their sounding board to help them and support them in any way.”

Spielman, 62, was once a training camp participant for the San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions as an undrafted linebacker. He began his front office career with the Lions in 1990, got his first GM opportunity with the Miami Dolphins in 2004 (which lasted only a year), then joined the Vikings organization in 2006.

Spielman also consulted on the Washington Commanders' head coach and GM searches last offseason, which led to the respective hirings of Dan Quinn and Adam Peters.

Can the Jets see a similar one-year turnaround the Commanders experienced in 2024? That's what Spielman, Glenn, and Mougey hope to accomplish.

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