FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Discussing their prospects for 2024, the New York Jets sound like they're reading from a car's side-view mirror. To paraphrase:
We are closer than we appear.
"It's really not as far away as it looks right now," general manager Joe Douglas said at the end of the season.
"We need a couple of more pieces ... but we're close," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
Those words -- "we're close" -- are echoing at One Jets Drive. Close, of course, is relative. The Jets (7-10) finished four games behind the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins in the AFC East and seemingly miles behind the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs, the AFC finalists.