The Jets have been building toward this moment since November. That is when owner Woody Johnson fired general manager Joe Douglas and everyone knew the team would have a different direction in 2025.
After launching an exhaustive search for a new general manager and interviewing 16 candidates, the Jets hired Darren Mougey.
Now, Mougey is on the clock.
There are many jobs for the GM of an NFL team, but the draft defines a GM’s legacy.
Get it right and you’re a genius.
Blow it and you won’t have the job for long.
Mougey gets his first crack at the draft on Thursday night.
The Jets hold eight picks in this draft, and their first is the No. 7 overall selection.
What Mougey should do with that pick has been the subject of debate for months.
He gave the standard GM answer this week when asked about his approach.
“I think you want to go into the draft just adding good football players that are going to help your team win,” Mougey said. “Now and in the future. You can’t just have this narrow focus right now, you got to look long term, but I feel good about where we’re at in April.”
Mougey, 40, inherited a team that went 5-12 last year and has not made the playoffs since 2010.
The Jets have not had a winning season since 2015.
They went for it over the last two years with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and 2025 feels like a reset.
The biggest holes for Mougey to fill are at right tackle, тιԍнт end, wide receiver and defensive tackle. He won’t be able to fill all of those on the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The top pick feels like a choice between a tackle — Armand Membou of Missouri, Will Campbell of LSU and Kelvin Banks of Texas are the top choices — and Penn State тιԍнт end Tyler Warren, who would give the Jets offense another playmaker to pair with Garrett Wilson.
If the Jets go defense, Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham could be the selection if he is still available.
The Jets were conservative in free agency after signing quarterback Justin Fields to a $40 million contract. Most of their other moves were not big-name free agents.
The draft is really where new coach Aaron Glenn and Mougey can put their stamp on the roster.
“We’re looking for smart, tough, aggressive, and resilient players,” Glenn said in February. “We’re going to do everything we can to find those guys, and listen, you can find them in all different spots, small schools, big-time schools, trades, wherever we can find them we’re going to try to bring them on this team.”
One of the questions about the Jets’ choice of Glenn and Mougey is whether it would have been smarter to hire someone with more experience for at least one of the positions.
Both men are in their roles for the first time.
“I’m not worried at all that it’s both of our first roles, we’re both experienced in the league, we’ve had a lot of experience, and AG has experience as a scout as well, and we have good people around us, so no, I’m not concerned about it being the first time,” Mougey said.
Mougey, who rose through the ranks as a scout in Denver, admitted there will be a different feel being in the big chair for the draft.
“I’m sure there’ll be some nerves, and it’s definitely different being one that gives suggestions, and then one that makes a decision, right?” Mougey said Monday. “That’s a different feeling, but I feel really good about the work we’ve put in to this point, and we’ve just been so detailed and worked so hard about building the board, and we’ll continue to work through some scenarios and strategy planning these next few days, but I feel really confident about where we’ll be at, the support group around me to make those decisions, and feel really comfortable about the draft.”
