Woody Johnson bought the Jets in January of 2000. Seventeen years later, he might be surrendering control of the organization.

Presuming Johnson is named the United States' ambassador to the United Kingdom under Donald Trump, Johnson is preparing to hand the Jets' day-to-day operations to his younger brother, Christopher Wold Johnson, according to Pro Football Talk.

Woody Johnson, who turns 70 in April, would let his brother run the Jets until the ambassador appointment concludes. Christopher Johnson is 12 years younger than Woody Johnson, according to a 2004 New York Times story.

It would be next to impossible for Woody Johnson to maintain day-to-day control over the Jets while holding an overseas ambassador position, so this news comes as little surprise. Somebody would have to run the team in his absence, though he would still be the Jets' owner.

Of course, this all depends on Johnson landing the ambassador job. He's not exactly highly qualified for it, but that typically doesn't matter in situations like these, because Johnson raised a lot of money for Trump's presidential campaign.

Johnson declined to speak with reporters after the Jets beat the Bills on Sunday to finish 5-11. The Jets later announced they would retain coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan for the 2017 season, the third for both with the organization. Johnson is expected to speak with reporters in the coming weeks.

Johnson has never held a job in government or foreign relations, though he has been heavily involved in politics for years, on the fundraising side.

Johnson has long been a prominent Republican fundraiser. After initially supporting Jeb Bush's campaign during the primary, Johnson shifted his support to Trump when he secured the nomination. (Johnson initially was the national finance chairman for Bush's failed campaign.)

Johnson served as vice chairman of Trump's victory committee. Johnson also hosted high-dollar fundraisers for Trump's campaign. Plus, Johnson is on Trump's inaugural committee. Incoming presidents typically reward big-money supporters with ambassador posts like this.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney was U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 2009-12. So this would not be an unprecedented move for an NFL owner. But it would mean a change atop the Jets' day-to-day power structure very soon.

The Jets have made the playoffs six times in 17 years under Johnson. They have a record of 132-140 in the regular season (136-146 overall) in his time as owner.

The Jets are currently in a six-year playoff drought -- their longest since 1992-97. They haven't had a playoff drought of more than six seasons since 1970-80. Their record over the past six seasons is 41-55.

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.