By most accounts, Darren Mougey’s second offseason as general manager of the New York Jets has been very successful. Compared to previous offseasons, the Jets had a plan and executed it to the best of their ability. They targeted veteran players who can provide leadership and had experience playing for Aaron Glenn in Detroit and New Orleans.
Not only did they plan for the present, but they also added pieces for the team’s future through the 2026 NFL Draft. New York used their first-round picks to select David Bailey, arguably the best pass rusher in the draft as well as two key pieces for the offense in tight end Kenyon Sadiq and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.
Add the contract extensions Mougey got done with Breece Hall as well as Joe Tippmann and the Jets have become a potentially attractive destination for a rookie quarterback in next year’s draft.
But, watching the plan Mougey put in place for this season only makes the strategy he and Glenn initiated last offseason more frustrating and tough to swallow. The Jets undermined our intelligence as fans by trying to convince anyone who would listen that they were competing when the additions they made did not reflect that in any way. When you compare and contrast both offseasons under head coach Aaron Glenn and Mougey, one thing becomes abundantly clear. The Jets purposefully tanked the 2025 season.
Instead of finding impact players on offense or defense, the 2025 offseason plan was designed around finding players who Mougey and Glenn felt had untapped potential and had yet to realize it with their previous teams.
In other words, it was the equivalent of buying 100 scratch-off lottery tickets and hoping you hit the jackpot on at least one. It’s not a sound strategy for a team with playoff aspirations. It was a strategy that is primarily centered around luck, not skill. Hope for the best, but expect the worst.
The biggest acquisition for the Jets last offseason was quarterback Justin Fields. There were plenty of Jets fans who preferred the team to draft Fields instead of Zach Wilson. While his playmaking ability was on display during his time with the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers, his inaccuracy as a passer as well as his penchant for taking bad sacks were also on display. It wasn’t exactly a low-risk move either as the Jets gave Fields $40 million over two seasons.
After a strong first game against the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers, it couldn’t have gone any worse for Fields as he put up the worst passing numbers of his career. He was benched midway through the season for Tyrod Taylor and when Taylor got hurt during a game against the Miami Dolphins, Glenn elected to play UDFA Brady Cook over a healthy Fields.
Instead of being aggressive and landing a strong receiver to pair with Garrett Wilson like Chris Godwin, Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen, the Jets went as deep into the bargain bin as you could go to sign Josh Reynolds, who had plenty of familiarity with Mougey in Denver as well as Glenn with the Detroit Lions, and Tyler Johnson, who had spent two seasons each with Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Rams. Reynolds and Johnson combined for only two touchdowns in 2024 so, needless to say, expectations were very low. Both receivers played little to no role in the offense as Reynolds only played five games before suffering a season-ending injury and Johnson only had 12 receptions over 12 games before being released. The ineffectiveness of Reynolds and Johnson had an indirect effect on the performance of rookie Arian Smith, the team’s fourth round pick, who was forced to play a bigger role at wide receiver than he was ready for.
On the defensive side of the ball, instead of finding a legitimate defensive lineman that could open up more opportunities for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, Mougey signed three below average linemen, Jay Tufele, Byron Cowart and Derrick Nnadi, taking the quantity over quality approach. None of those lineman were going to scare the opposing team’s offensive line, although Nnadi had just won a Super Bowl with Kansas City the previous season.
Out of the three, only Tufele made the final roster as Nnadi was traded back to the Kansas City Chiefs right before the start of the season. Cowart had performed well in training camp, but suffered an injury and was released. The Jets also added Andre Cisco for the secondary hoping a change of scenery would help him bounce back after a down year with the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, he struggled from the beginning of the season and was lost for the year after suffering a torn triceps. He is back with the Jets in 2026, but is a bubble player at best after the team traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick and signed former Giant Dane Belton.
While Glenn may not have had a very talented roster, he also doesn’t get a pass for the team’s terrible 3-14 season. Glenn failed to motivate the returning veterans left over from the Robert Saleh era and the players he believed had untapped potential never realized it under his coaching staff. More weeks than not, the team looked disinterested and quit before the game started and it was also obvious that it trickled down to the coaching staff as during the final weeks of the season, there was nothing that resembled a game plan. It was understandable why fans and beat writers had their doubts if Glenn was the answer for this team. They were promised a team that was going to compete every week and they got a team that mailed it in almost every week..
The moves Mougey made in 2025 is the textbook definition of an evaluation year. We hear this a lot from General Managers and Head Coaches. They always claim they’re evaluating the roster when going through a dismal season, but not much changes. It’s a nice way of telling the fans and beat writers that the team is terrible and needs to be fixed. However, instead of blatantly lying to the fans, it would have been better for all parties involved if both Mougey and Glenn just admitted the 2025 season would be brutal to watch, but part of a bigger plan.
Honesty about the team is a refreshing concept that general managers and coaches should use more often. Jets fans already knew the team was awful, so no shame in being up front with them as to what the plan is moving forward. They would have still been miserable, but they would have at least knew what they were walking into and the terrible season would have been easier to swallow.
The chapter of the 2025 season is officially closed and it’s time to turn the page to the 2026. The Jets took yet another step back last year and, regardless of what they told everyone, it was by design to be a bad team. Mougey and Glenn executed their plan to improve the roster for the present as well as set themselves up for a potentially bright future. At the end of the day, it was a necessary evil to mail it in last year and hopefully, the 2026 season is the first of many steps forward to becoming a franchise that can be respected again.
Jets Wire will continue to provide updates throughout the 2026 offseason.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Did the New York Jets really intend to compete in 2025?
Reporting by Craig Moffett, Jets Wire / Jets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Craig Moffett, Jets Wire | USA TODAY Network
