Jets hire John Idzik as GM

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NEW YORK, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The New York Jets announced Friday they had hired John Idzik away from the Seattle Seahawks to be their new general manager.

Mike Tannenbaum was dismissed as the Jets' general manager following a 6-10 season, but Coach Rex Ryan was retained.

Idzik has been vice president of football administration with the Seahawks for six seasons. He is is considered an expert on salary cap issues, having studied mathematics at Dartmouth. The Jets currently have little room under the cap and have needs throughout their roster.

The new Jets general manager has also worked in the front office with the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice," said Jets owner Woody Johnson. "During his two decades in the NFL, John helped build a Super Bowl championship team in Tampa Bay, an NFC championship team in Arizona and, most recently, a team in Seattle that narrowly missed reaching the NFC championship game.

"John has seen first-hand what's necessary to construct a winning team."