Fitzgerald Cecilio

After a season of disappointment, the New York Jets have started picking up the pieces by hiring Seattle Seahawks executive John Idzik as their new general manager.

"I am honored and extremely excited to be joining the New York Jets," said Idzik, who inherited a team coming off a 6-10 campaign last season. "I am eager to get started building on the foundation that is already in place."

Idzik, the fourth general manager in Woody Johnson's 13 years as Jets' owner, has replaced Mike Tannenbaum, who was fired at the end of the season.

The Jets picked Idzik after interviewing front-office executives from at least six teams, including Brian Gaine of the Miami Dolphins, Tom Gamble of the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants' Marc Ross.

"After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice," Johnson said.

"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," the Jets owner added.

Johnson is hoping that Idzik and coach Rex Ryan will work hand in hand to bring the Jets "where all of us want to be."

According to sources, Idzik will have the final say on all personnel matters. They also added that the Jets picked Idzik because of his strong leadership in all aspects of the organization.

The 52-year-old Idzik recently worked as the Seahawks' vice president of football administration where he was a regular in personnel meetings but devoted most of his time to the business side.

Idzik was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office when they won Super Bowl XXXVII.

Idzik played football at Dartmouth and coached briefly as a low-level college assistant but made a crossover to the operation side of the game.

Jets Hire Ex-Seahawks Executive John Idzik as New General Manager