Jets stand alone with longest drought in 4 major North American sports

Congratulations to the Sabres.

Charlie Baduini

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The New York Jets have the NFL's longest active playoff drought, having not cracked the postseason since 2010. And before today, they were typically tied with the NHL's Buffalo Sabres for the longest postseason drought in North America's four major sports leagues.

Not anymore. Buffalo broke their streak Saturday afternoon, clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and ending a drought that lasted 14 years.

The Jets made it 15 straight years without the postseason in 2025, and New York was probably hoping their hockey counterpart would join them, so they wouldn't be by themselves in the doldrums of their respective leagues.

Now, the Green & White are in a category of their own. Throughout the 124 sports franchises in North America, they stand alone as the most futile.

Jets hold the longest active playoff drought in North American sports

The playoff drought looms large over the Jets organization. It's something that head coach Aaron Glenn has spoken about at length since his first press conference in early 2025.

Besides the more recent drought, Glenn nearly made the Super Bowl as a Jet in 1998, and that's another weight he has to carry as a player-turned-coach. He spoke emotionally about it at the league owners' meetings.

"I want to leave a legacy, I do. When I'm gone, man, I'm looking at this team being a team that consistently puts themselves in a place to win. Every day. There's not a day, there's not an hour, there's not a minute I don't think about that."
Aaron Glenn

Glenn can get started on that legacy by finding a way to lead the Jets back to the playoffs, something that five head coaches, including himself, have failed to do since 2010.

It starts in 2026, where the Jets and their new-look roster will look to shock the NFL world. New York isn't expected to make the playoffs; their projected win total sits at about 5.5.

But every year, there's always a team that appears out of nowhere to snatch a playoff spot when it's least expected. After 15 years, isn't it time for the Jets to have a turn?

Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini covers the New York Jets as a site expert for The Jet Press and FanSided. He is a sports journalist based in Northern New Jersey with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in print and broadcast journalism. Baduini’s byline can also be seen on Heavy and The Sporting News, where he covers several teams across the NFL and NBA. His work has been featured in Heavy, Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and Yardbarker. He also serves as a seasonal intern for ESPN, working as a production assistant for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony every year since 2022. Baduini has been a Jets fan for as long as he can remember, with his family's fandom dating back to the 1960s when his grandfather, Louis, became a season ticket holder. His family has since held on to the tickets to this day. He is an avid fan of the New York Knicks and New York Mets.