The Jets released Robert Saleh after losing early in Aaron Rodgers’ second season. What now?

Jets owner Woody Johnson has seen enough.

And now coach Robert Saleh has paid with his job.

Johnson fired Saleh on Tuesday following Sunday’s disappointing 23-17 loss to the Vikings in London. That result dropped the Jets to 2-3 – a big blow considering their high expectations.

Still, it’s still early days – making this an amazing move from Johnson.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will step in as interim coach.

Saleh, who had one year left on his contract after this season, needed to deliver immediate results in 2024 – especially now that Aaron Rodgers is healthy again.

But the Jets sputtered early. So Johnson, in his 25th season as owner of the Jets, pulled off a midseason firing for the first time.

The Jets have lost two games in a row heading into Monday night’s home game against the Bills. Their loss to the Vikings in London was particularly embarrassing because former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is now starting for Minnesota.

The Jets started this season 2-1, but suffered two tough losses in a row – at home to the Broncos (an absolutely brutal loss, 10-9) and then in London to Minnesota.

Johnson hired Saleh in 2021 to replace Adam Gase, who was a 9-23 disaster in his two seasons. But Saleh didn’t fare much better. He reached 4-13, 7-10 and 7-10. Add in this year’s 2-3 start and he leaves Florham Park with a record of 20-36.

These are the worst winning percentages among non-interim Jets coaches: Rich Kotite (.125), Lou Holtz (.231), Gase (.281), Bulldog Turner (.357) and Saleh (.357).

Johnson decided to keep Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas after last season, largely because Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon in Week 1. So they got a mulligan. But everyone knew that Saleh would have to achieve big (and fast) success in 2024 to keep his job.

And Johnson has already decided he’s done with Saleh.

Johnson, 77, is clearly running out of patience to get results. This also applies to his fans. And it’s hard to blame them. The Jets last made the playoffs in 2010. They currently have the longest postseason drought in major North American professional sports.

With Saleh gone, the focus now turns to Douglas, who got his job because Gase toppled Mike Maccagnan at the start of Gase’s first season in the job. Douglas has made some excellent draft picks (like Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner), but the Jets continue to not win enough.

Johnson hired Douglas after the 2019 offseason. So he now had five off seasons to rebuild the Jets. Douglas is currently in the final year of his first six-year Jets contract. It is therefore quite possible that he will be able to pay with his job in the coming months if the situation does not improve.

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Darryl Slater can be reached at [email protected].