What took so long?
That was the immediate reaction Friday to the news that former general manager Terry Bradway was fired by the successor to his successor's successor. Got that? Oh, never mind. The point is, Bradway, whose scouting acumen with the New York Jets was trumped by his survival skills, finally got whacked.
After three days on the job, Mike Maccagnan's popularity already is soaring.
Bradway is a good man who got on the bad side of the fanbase because ... well, he was in the draft room for 14 consecutive years, presiding over -- and later participating in -- some really bad decisions.
He's the guy who traded up for Dewayne Robertson. The guy who drafted a freaking kicker (Mike Nugent) in the second round. Who traded out of the first round to pick up Doug Jolley. Who got fleeced by the Washington Redskins, who stole Laveranues Coles from under the Jets' noses.
He got demoted after Herm Edwards was fired, yet still managed to keep a significant role in the Mike Tannenbaum-Eric Mangini administration. He was in the room when Vernon Gholston was drafted -- and everybody in the room should've been sacked, something Gholston never did.
Bradway also was there when they drafted Kyle Wilson, Vladimir Ducasse, Kenrick Ellis and Stephen Hill. Bradway didn't pull the trigger on those picks, but there's something to be said for guilt by association.
When they fired Tannenbaum, Bradway somehow managed to convince John Idzik to keep him around in an important job. He landed a nice title, too -- senior director of college scouting.
Maccagnan wasn't going to fall for that, no sir. He told the Jets in his interview that he'd clean house if he got the job, and that's what he's doing.
Bradway goes. So does Jeff Bauer, the director of college scouting. Rod Graves will be a goner, too. Did anybody really think Maccagnan would retain Idzik's right-hand man?
They're starting fresh, and that's a good thing. Except for a few hits in recent years (Darrelle Revis, Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson), the scouting department has done a poor job. Maccagnan will bring in his own people to fill the Bradway and Bauer roles, and the word is that he's looking for young up-and-comers.
Bradway had some moments. His first draft was very good (Santana Moss and Kareem McKenzie in 2001), and he pushed Tannenbaum to trade up for Revis in 2007. How'd he last so long? Someone once told me Bradway was Morris the Cat -- i.e. Nine Lives.
Now he's gone. So is Idzik. And Jets fans are celebrating.