Jets officially extend the most embarrassing drought in pro sports

The New York Jets were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday following their 34–10 loss to the Miami Dolphins, and with that, the NFL’s longest active playoff drought extends to 15 consecutive seasons.

It has now been 5,432 days since the Jets last played a playoff game. They once again hold the longest drought in major professional American sports, a drought that is over twice as long as any other NFL team.

In the NFL, a league engineered for parity through the salary cap, the draft, and schedule balancing, lasting this long without one postseason berth should be impossible. Teams routinely bottom out and bounce back within two or three years.

The Jets have bottomed out, retooled, rebuilt, and recycled multiple times… and still haven’t returned.

What has happened since the last time the Jets made the playoffs?

Nothing captures the drought quite like the Jets’ quarterback rollercoaster. Since their last playoff appearance, the Jets have started 17 different quarterbacks.

Mark Sanchez, Greg McElroy, Geno Smith, Michael Vick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bryce Petty, Josh McCown, Sam Darnold, Trevor Siemian, Luke Falk, Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White, Aaron Rodgers, Tim Boyle, Justin Fields, and Tyrod Taylor have all started for the Jets.

23 different quarterbacks have thrown at least one pass, with names like Josh Johnson, Chris Streveler, and, of course, Brady Cook joining that list.

And if you think QB turnover is bad, consider the fact that the Jets have also used 17 different kickers during the drought — including Nick Folk twice. Folk left, bounced around the league, and is now back as the Jets’ current kicker.

Four different presidential election cycles have taken place since the Jets last made the postseason. The last time the Jets made the playoffs, the iPhone 4 had just been released, Tesla was a startup company, and Instagram had launched less than three months earlier.

The entire Avengers MCU saga happened in the time since the Jets last made the playoffs. Game of Thrones premiered, became the biggest show on the planet, ended, and spawned a spinoff. Taylor Swift released six albums and re-recorded four of them. We lived through a global pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans all won playoff games. The Chicago Cubs snapped their 108-year championship drought. Leicester City won the Premier League as 5000-to-1 underdogs. Yet, the Jets can't even sniff the postseason.

Braelon Allen had just celebrated his seventh birthday the last time the Jets played in a playoff game. Breece Hall was nine years old.

The NFL is built so that teams like the Jets don’t exist. And yet, here they are, 15 seasons and more than 5,400 days removed from their last playoff appearance.

One day the drought will end. And when it does, it will mark the end of an era so long and so dreadful that it will feel less like a football milestone and more like a generational curse finally breaking.

Until then, we await our eventual salvation. Jets fans are nothing if not practiced at patience.