Jets’ new GM is already taking the correct path when it comes to building the roster

The New York Jets have their new head coach and GM and they introduced them on Monday to the New York media in a press conference that went very well. While Aaron Glenn certainly got most of the headlines, and rightfully so, Darren Mougey was also on display for the fans and media to scrutinize. […]

Mike Antoniou
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New York Jets General Manager, Darren Mougey speaks to the press, at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, Monday, January 27, 2025, in Florham Park.
Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New York Jets have their new head coach and GM and they introduced them on Monday to the New York media in a press conference that went very well.

While Aaron Glenn certainly got most of the headlines, and rightfully so, Darren Mougey was also on display for the fans and media to scrutinize. While he didn’t answer the burning question on everyone’s mind; “will Aaron Rodgers be the quarterback of this team in 2025?” he did address the current state of the team as he sees it. And Mougey sees a lot of talent and doesn’t expect to have a down year.

“It’s about the players. We have a good foundation of players here right now that we are going to continue to add to and we are going to give those players everything they need to be successful and reach their potential.”

The sentiment is a nice one to hear, and I think he believes it. Why shouldn’t he? The Jets were supposed to be a playoff team last year and might have been if Woody Johnson didn’t throw a grenade in the locker room five weeks in and then spend the rest of the season wondering how it went wrong. But I digress.

Mougey wants to not just “win now, but from now on”. And he has a simple and effective plan to do just that.

“Our philosophy will be to draft, develop, keep our own and be disciplined and strategic in free agency,” Mougey said. “We acquire, develop and work to retain players that fit our team and culture, and we will do this in complete partnership with the coaches.”

I have often said that the Jets are far too reliant on free agent talent. It comes from years of poor drafting and worse player development. Going into this year seven of the team’s starting 11 on offense were free agent signings or trades. It was even worse on defense.

It is impossible to have any sort of sustained success in the NFL if a majority of your roster is hired from another organization. The Jets have drafted poorly and they have done worse at developing talent.

Ashtyn Davis was drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft, and he is the second-longest tenured Jets player to Thomas Hennessey who is a long snapper. Davis is a free agent this off-season and could be on his way out. The 2021 draft class might not fair much better as only Michael Carter II and Alijah Vera-Tucker are for sure on the team in 2025. The other hangers on from that draft class, Jamien Sherwood and Brandin Echols are slated to hit free agency.

Mougey’s philosophy sounds like good news for players like Breece Hall, Jermaine Johnson, Sauce Gardner, and Garrett Wilson, who were all drafted and developed by the Jets in the same draft. All four are eligible for extensions this off season and I imagine it will be one of Mougey’s first orders of business to get some deals done with those guys.

Per Over the Cap, the Jets currently have an estimated $20.95 million in 2025 cap space free. They could open up some more space with releases which are likely to happen, but they also have a significant number of voiding contracts which will lead to dead cap charges.

Free agency is a tool, not a philosophy. It sounds like the new GM understands that too.

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