The New York Jets made some difficult decisions this offseason. The Aaron Rodgers era was a toxic wasteland. General manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn were hired as general manager and head coach respectively to spearhead a new era. Rodgers was released from his contract as the Jets embraced a rebuild. Fixing the culture and locker room morale has been the subject of their early mission.
ESPN recently graded all 32 offseasons around the NFL. They praised the Jets for realizing the obvious. Glenn and Mougey deserve praise for doing exactly what was necessary.
“The most important part of the Jets’ offseason was them recognizing they needed to reset,” Seth Walder wrote. “It started with a full regime change — Glenn as coach and Darren Mougey as general manager — a given after Woody Johnson rashly fired Robert Saleh after five games in 2024 and followed up by firing GM Joe Douglas shortly after.”
Mougey also earns a proverbial pat on the back for signing Justin Fields to replace Rodgers. The Jets could’ve gone in various different directions at quarterback. Choosing the younger Fields over aging options proved this regime understands their predicament.
“But the wise part came when the Jets took a long shot on Fields, giving them a quarterback who is probably a one-year fill-in but with the upside to be more,” Walder continued. “This was preferable to trying to hang on to mediocrity with Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins or Matthew Stafford — who are all at the end of their careers and, in Stafford’s case, would have cost more than Fields.”
The Jets are taking the necessary steps this offseason towards recapturing relevance and contention.
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This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: ESPN: Jets receive praise for realizing the obvious this offseason