Robert Saleh has taken the fall for the New York Jets’ capitulation against the Minnesota Vikings.

The head coach clashed with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and was told to pack his bags with an overall record of 20-36.

Saleh and Rodgers did not appear to get on

He signed a five-year contract worth a reported $5million a year in January 2021 and will now earn a fortune.

Saleh is set to pocket almost $20,000 a DAY for the remainder of his deal – or $583,333 per month.

His brief when taking the job was to end the longest active playoff drought in the NFL, which stands at 13 seasons.

New York went all in to acquire Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers in 2023, but lost the star signal caller to a season-ending Achilles’ injury in Week 1.

That allowed Saleh to ride out successive campaigns with a 7-10 record.

But with Rodgers fit and, briefly, firing this season, the hierarchy needed a man to blame for falling to 2-3.

They could not lay the blame at the quarterback’s door, so Saleh was ushered out of the building.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports that the move came as a huge shock within the building and the defense, in particular, was stunned.

Popular defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich taking over as interim head coach should smooth things over with that side of the ball – which remains the Jets‘ strength.

But another man may be thanking his lucky stars that Saleh was made the scapegoat.

Rodgers chats to offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett

The duo’s relationship goes back to Green Bay

Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is fresh off the back of one of the worst head coaching tenures in recent memory with the Denver Broncos.

Soon after taking over at the Mile High Stadium, Sean Payton tore into his predecessor.

“Oh, man, there’s so much dirt around that,” he said about Russell Wilson‘s treatment.

“There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the training rooms, the meeting rooms.

“The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it.

“This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”

Payton later apologized for his comments, but not because they weren’t true.

Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards with Hackett in Green Bay in 2020 and 2021.

That record probably played a huge role in the Broncos hiring him – but how much of it was down to Aaron Rodgers being Aaron Rodgers?

Hackett was brought in as Rodgers’ security blanket in January 2023 and a shoddy offense the following season was blamed on backup quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemian, as well as a porous offensive line.

Fast forward to the current season, the offensive line is still a huge problem despite plenty of investment.

And Rodgers may as well have been wearing a bullseye against the impressive Vikings pass rush in London.

He proved against the New England Patriots that there is still something in the tank at age 40.

A supporting cast featuring Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson is also in place.

The Jets’ defence – Saleh’s responsibility – have given up just 85 points in five games this season.

It is the offense that has been their Achilles’ heel this year – and throughout Saleh’s tenure.

Since 2021, they have ranked 32nd in points per game (17.27), offensive TDs per game (1.63), turnovers per game (1.59), and total offensive EPA (-8.5), as well as 31st in yards per game (296.71).

If the failure to reverse that trend cannot be their expensive acquisition Rodgers, more fingers should have been pointing at Hackett.

Now all eyes will be on his offense with a primetime clash against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football offering nowhere to hide.