Melnyk's probably worried about fan response even though it seems like the writing's on the wall at this point, and Dorion is inexperienced as the guy who has to make those decisions.
Not trying to make excuses because I definitely agree that it's not smart, but I wonder if they've been trying to negotiate a trade with the idea that the players can still be signed and taken off the market as leverage. I don't think it's smart negotiating when patience will win out for the other side.
And as a sidenote: 40+ pages in 3 days, might be the fastest moving thread on the Jets forum that isn't a GDT