As is often the case in life, timing is everything. One second too early or too late and the opportunity of a lifetime can fall through one’s fingertips.

This offseason, the Jets weren’t presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, but a chance to cut bait with a regime that was not getting the job done. With the firing of head coach Todd Bowles, New York could’ve elected to send general manager Mike Maccagnan packing along with him. Instead, Christopher Johnson elected to keep Maccagnan around to aid his search for a new head coach.

Realizing his mistake a couple of months after hiring Adam Gase in place of Bowles, Johnson let Maccagnan go. The move netted the Jets a promising general manager in Joe Douglas. However, it is the timing of the move, not the result of it, that has complicated New York’s immediate plans.

In only a couple of months on the job, Douglas has arguably shown enough to prove that he is already better than Maccagnan at running the show. There’s no question that the Jets made the right move by firing Maccagnan and landing their top pick for the job. The timing of it all is what has the Jets in a precarious position with the 2019 season looming, though.

Johnson elected to let Maccagnan go after allowing him to make all of New York’s player personnel decisions throughout free agency and the draft. Despite the fact that either Gase or members of his coaching staff didn’t want certain players, Maccagnan went ahead and made moves anyway. A prime example of this is third-round pick Jachai Polite, who was cut by Douglas on Sunday after Maccagnan drafted him in April despite some opposition from those at One Jets Drive.

Polite was never wanted by New York’s defensive coaching staff. It’s a harsh truth, but one that needs to be recognized. Throughout the preseason, Polite couldn’t accomplish what the coaching staff expected out of him. As a result, his playing time nearly evaporated. He didn’t even appear on special teams throughout the preseason, which says a lot about what defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and company thought of him. Managing only four tackles against third- and fourth-stringers in preseason action certainly didn’t help endear himself to the staff that never wanted him in the first place.

So, what’s the big deal that the Jets cut Polite? He was an under-performing, middle-round draft pick that was not drafted by Douglas. Cutting Polite after only a couple of months with the team was a questionable move given New York’s current lack of depth at outside linebacker and his raw potential, but there is a larger-scale problem that looms following Polite’s release.

The Polite situation perfectly illustrates why the decision to fire Maccagnan in the middle of the offseason after allowing him to run the show through free agency and the draft was a troublesome one. With Maccagnan gone, Douglas inherits players he might not have signed if he was in charge and is left to pick up the pieces of the prior regime’s many shortcomings.

The Jets are not the first team to fire their general manager after offseason proceedings. They certainly will not be the last. Often times, ownership would rather hold onto to a general manager who has spent the season prepping for free agency and the draft instead of bringing a new one in and providing him with minimal time to not only build a staff, but prepare for all that the offseason entails.

Polite’s release simply illustrates potential problems that can arise from bringing in a new general manager so late in the game. It’s better late than never when it comes to making a necessary move, but Douglas, the man who is supposed to come in and surpass what Maccagnan accomplished as GM, is the one who suffers as he tries to assemble a roster competitive enough to get the Jets back to the postseason.