Mike Tannenbaum out as Jets GM

The New York Jets fired general manager Mike Tannenbaum on Monday. Tannenbaum had been the team's GM since the 2006 season, when he took over for Terry Bradway after spending nine years in different positions within New York's front office.

Woody Johnson announced this morning that GM Mike Tannenbaum will not return to Jets in 2013.

— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 31, 2012

Tannenbaum built the Jets squads that challenged the Patriots' supremacy in the AFC East and went to back-to-back AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. His fate may be most linked to quarterback Mark Sanchez, who he drafted with the fifth overall pick in 2009.

Sanchez's first two seasons were those conference title game trips, and Tannenbaum was extended through 2014 at that time. The last two seasons, as the Jets have missed the playoffs, the young quarterback regress as the talent around him has deteriorated. Tannenbaum signed Sanchez to a three-year extension in 2012 with $20 million in guarantees while also trading for Tim Tebow, creating the current mess of a quarterback situation that exists in New York.