Darren Mougey hasn’t been in the Jets’ GM chair long enough to build a full résumé, but he’s already starting to show you what he values. The early theme is pretty clear: he knows how to squeeze real talent out of the bargain bin.
That’s become the thread across his first two offseasons in New York. Around cutdown day in back-to-back years, Mougey has landed useful players for minimal draft capital, turning four sixth-round picks into Harrison Phillips, Jowon Briggs, Jordan Meredith and three seventh-round picks.
Phillips and Briggs both mattered on the defensive line in 2025, while Meredith gives the Jets much-needed offensive line depth heading into 2026.
Phillips was especially steady against the run, posting a 76.2 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus that ranked sixth among 134 qualified defensive tackles last season. The work he does away from the ball matters too, and the Jets now have to sort out his contract situation. Even so, he’s already shown he can be a major piece.
Briggs, meanwhile, took a bigger leap as a pass rusher. Among 96 qualified defensive tackles in 2025 with at least 200 pass-rush snaps, he ranked eighth in PFF’s “Pass Rushing Productivity,” a metric that tracks pressure per snap and gives sacks double weight.
His cap hit is just over $1 million this season before restricted free agency, which only adds to the appeal. Phillips looks like a strong extension candidate, and Briggs could be trending toward long-term starter status if he backs up 2025 with another strong year.
Meredith is the newest addition, arriving in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday’s cutdown day. For a Jets team that didn’t have much experience behind its starting offensive line, he fits the need perfectly.
His 2024 season was the best version of him. At guard, the 28-year-old finished sixth among 66 qualified guards in PFF overall grade at 80.8, while also ranking 10th in run blocking at 78.4 and 11th in pass protecting at 75.7.
The story changed once the Raiders moved him to center in 2025. Over 11 starts, he dropped to 32nd among 40 qualifiers in overall grade and allowed four sacks and 20 pressures, while also being flagged four times.
Even with that dip, the fact that Mougey got him for a late-round pick swap is another clean piece of business.
The Jets also made a waiver claim Sunday on linebacker Trevin Wallace, and that one comes with real upside. Wallace, 23, was a third-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft and has a path to becoming the team’s LB3 this season.
He’s already started 20 of his 25 NFL games and has put together a stat line that includes 125 combo tackles, 72 solo tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, four pass deflections, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. The athletic profile jumps off the page too: a 9.33 RAS, a 4.51 40-yard dash and a 37.5-inch vertical. For a Jets linebacker room that still has plenty of question marks, adding that kind of upside for nothing is exactly the sort of move that fits Mougey’s emerging style.
In Other News...
Jets Trade Just Put Mougey's Roster Strategy Under A Brighter Spotlight
The Jets went out and addressed a thin spot up front by bringing in offensive lineman Jordan Meredith from the Raiders, sending a 2027 sixth-round pick to Las Vegas and getting back a 2029 seventh-rounder in the deal. Meredith also agreed to a restructured one-year contract with New York worth $2 million plus incentives, with $1.9 million guaranteed, a sign the team wanted to make the move as clean and straightforward as possible.
For a roster that has spent plenty of time under the microscope, the addition fits the kind of practical depth-building that can matter most when the grind of a season arrives. New York is looking at Meredith as interior line insurance for 2026, and the move puts a little more attention on how the Jets continue to shape that part of the roster around the edges. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Kicker Search Just Took A Turn Fans Will Hate
The Jets kicking search has moved into another uneasy phase, with the team working out Justin Tucker, Michael Badgley and Joshua Karty while still sorting through options beyond Blake Grupe and Jason Sanders. It is the kind of late-summer roster exercise that usually goes unnoticed, except the Jets are dealing with a position that can swing games and erase margin for error in a hurry.
Tucker is the name that will grab attention, even if not for the reasons anyone in Florham Park would prefer. He was recently suspended for 10 games in 2025 after an NFL investigation into allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior from 2012 to 2016, and his recent on-field form has been a concern as well, with other teams passing on him after tryouts. For a Jets team still trying to settle the position, the bigger question is whether this search is about finding stability or simply waiting to see which path makes the least sense to avoid. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Took A Chance On Trevin Wallace For One Clear Reason
The Jets took a waiver swing on Trevin Wallace after Carolina moved on from the former third-round pick, and the appeal is easy to see from a roster-building standpoint. Wallace still has the kind of athletic traits teams keep betting on at linebacker, even if his first two seasons with the Panthers never translated into a steady role or the kind of consistency that usually keeps a young defender on the field.
For New York, the move is less about plugging in an immediate answer and more about trying to shape a talent that has not fully come together yet. Wallace arrives needing real development and coaching after struggling with technique in Carolina, and the Jets are clearly hoping they can turn a former high draft choice into a useful depth piece rather than another early-career disappointment. [Read more 🡒]