Good luck with that: Former Vikings GM brings history of complacency to Jets' brass

The New York Jets seemed to like him so much that they decided to keep him around. In the wake of helping Gang Green hire Aaron Glenn as head coach and Darren Mougey as general manager, the Jets are retaining Rick Spielman to a role on their front office. Spielman will be a senior football adviser for the Jets, announcing that he accepted the job while on his podcast With the First Pick.

Spielman is best known for his time as the former general manager of the Minnesota Vikings. He was partnered up with their former head coach Mike Zimmer in the late 2010s. While Minnesota achieved a great deal of on-field success during the regular season, playoff futility largely defined their regime. Stubbornness over its roster construction later led to the Vikings eventually moving on from the pair.

Spielman said on his show what the gist of his new role with the Jets will be after leaving the media.

"Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey are the final decision makers. I'm just there as their sounding board."

Spielman has a lot of work in front of him taking over for Phil Savage in the wake of Joe Douglas' exit.

"Right now, my biggest project is trying to rebuild the football operation side of things. There's a lot of changes going on up there. I kind of feel honored and privileged that they called me to be part of it going forward."

He finished by saying that he trusts Glenn and Mougey to make the right decisions in team building.

"I don't need to make the decisions; I don't want to make the decisions anymore. I really don't. I had my day in the sun -- the good and the bad. What I enjoy the most is sharing experiences."

The Jets once again enter the offseason with the longest active playoff drought going back to 2010.

Rick Spielman plans to be a sounding board for new New York Jets regime

It is hard to say why Spielman and Zimmer eventually failed in Minnesota. Every case is different. From an unbiased perspective, I found the pair quickly rose to success, but could never seem to get the Vikings to that extra gear to even think about winning the NFC. Quarterback play may have played a part in that, but let's not put all the blame on Kirk Cousins and Case Keenum. Others were at fault, too.

Truth be told, I would place the bulk of the blame on Zimmer being incredibly set in his ways as a defensive-minded coach. In a league driven by offense, he always seemed to belittle that side of the football. He may have wanted Cousins to play better, but I never felt that he ever respected the quarterback position. As for Spielman, I kind of felt like he set back and just let it all unravel on him.

Again, Spielman said upon taking his new role he wants to be a sounding board and does not want to make decisions. That could be to the advantage of the Jets, but keep in mind they are now employing a first-time head coach and a first-time general manager. They did the same thing the last time they hired both. Glenn and Robert Saleh are defensive minds. Mougey and Douglas were well thought of.

Overall, I do believe the Jets will end their league-worst playoff drought under this new regime. I really like the Glenn hire and the Mougey one grows on me much with each day. Of course, that could all change after how next season shakes out. However, I do get the sense that Spielman's involvement, however much that may be, could end up being somewhat of a limitation that holds the team back.

Ultimately, I am mostly bullish on the Jets long-term because I believe in Glenn. He starred for the franchise in the 1990s and saw what winning looks like in tough places to do that such as Detroit and New Orleans. That could be key in helping turn around the Jets. However, Spielman never really got the Vikings to conquer the rest of the NFL. It is why I am afraid that the Jets may not take off either.

I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but are the Jets in the business of winning big as is?