Joe Douglas wants you to know: He does not care.
The Jets shipped quarterback Sam Darnold south to the Panthers on April 5, leaving New York positioned to take a QB at No. 2 in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Some questioned the move. While Darnold's NFL career has been mired in ineffectiveness, some believe that the beleaguered quarterback is going to hit his ceiling elsewhere, in a better situation than what the Jets offered him.
Jets general manager Joe Douglas, though, doesn't seem to care whether he looks bad if that happens.
"Whether I look bad or not (for trading Darnold) I could give two s—s about that," Douglas said in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. "I know that he’s gonna have success. The timing didn’t really work out for him here. We couldn't turn this around fast enough for him. And that's not his fault.
"I root for good people, and that dude's a good man, and he’s gonna do good things. I believe that."
MORE: Sam Darnold trade grades — Panthers bank on future, Jets reset clock
Douglas seems to have a handle on the situation with the Jets and his reasoning for trading Darnold is sound: The USC product is entering his fourth season with a team that is entering Year 2 of a total (seemingly never-ending) rebuild.
With his fifth-year option and a potential contract extension looming, the Jets cut bait and, in Douglas' own admission, wanted to reset the QB contract situation. In return, they received a 2022 second-round pick, a 2022 fourth-round pick and a 2021 sixth-rounder. That's a good return when many believed the Jets would be moving on from Darnold.
At No. 2 in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jets are widely expected to select BYU quarterback Zach Wilson.
And Douglas will most certainly give a least half a crap about Wilson's success.
