By WFAN.com
The Jets reportedly plan to speak to a half-dozen or so candidates in their initial round of interviews for a new general manager.
The MMQB's Albert Breer reported Monday that the Jets hope to begin the interviews this week and that team Chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson and Hymie Elhai, senior vice president of business affairs and general counsel, will be "the lead players."
The Jets have reportedly requested interviews with Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas, Bears assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly, Vikings assistant general manager George Paton and Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer.
Douglas, Kelly and Jets coach Adam Gase all worked together with the Chicago Bears in 2015. Kelly and Gase also spent time together in Denver in 2013-14. The Jets' coach, however, has no ties to Paton or Fitterer.
Breer wrote that he believes Douglas is the favorite for the job, and he's far from alone among reporters with that opinion.
The Jets are searching for a replacement for Mike Maccagnan, who was surprisingly fired earlier this month after leading the Jets through the draft and the heart of free agency. Gase is serving as the interim GM. He's also helping with the Jets' short list of candidates for the job full-time.
"Christopher's making the decision," Gase told Breer. "There are a couple of us that are trying to help put the right type of guys in front of him. And the biggest thing, you're looking for a guy that has leadership qualities."
Gase added that ideally he'll have a working relationship similar to the one he had in Miami with general manager Chris Grier, with whom he was aligned philosophically. That trust allowed Gase to focus more on coaching.
"He knew exactly the type of players I like, character I like," Gase said of Grier. "He could tell you, 'You're gonna like this guy' or 'This guy needs to be a guy we target.' And he understood our offense, defense and special teams. … He gets it and he knows how to take that conversation, point out guys and be like, 'This is what we're looking for.'"
