Week 1 of NFL free agency is in the books, and with it, most of the league’s biggest moves on the veteran market are behind us.

For the New York Jets, it was a chaotic week. General manager Darren Mougey added eight outside free agents while acquiring two more players via trade. The team also brought back 10 of their own free agents, while seven players departed.

So after a whirlwind of a week, how did Mougey and the Jets fare?

Inside the Jets’ free agency scorecard

Here are the 10 players the Jets have landed so far.

EDGE Joseph Ossai

EDGE Kingsley Enagbare

LB Demario Davis

DT David Onyemata

S Dane Belton

CB Nahshon Wright

K Cade York

OG Dylan Parham

S Minkah Fitzpatrick (Trade)

QB Geno Smith (Trade)

These are the seven players Gang Green has lost.

OG John Simpson

K Nick Folk

LB Quincy Williams

OL Alijah Vera-Tucker

WR John Metchie III

EDGE Micheal Clemons

S Tony Adams

Finally, these are the 10 players New York re-signed.

TE Jelani Woods

DT Jowon Briggs

LB/ST Marcelino McCrary-Ball

FB/ST Andrew Beck

OL Max Mitchell

LB Mykal Walker

OG Xavier Newman

OT Chukwuma Okorafor

S Andre Cisco

RB/ST Kene Nwangwu

Evaluating the Jets’ approach

Altogether, the Jets took a very cohesive approach to free agency.

Despite having a lot of cap space, the team didn’t overspend; instead, it took a more grounded approach, looking to fill as many voids as possible while prioritizing value.

Mougey put a lot of his focus on rebuilding a defense that was among the league’s worst last season, and he did an excellent job of doing just that.

The team’s defensive end room received a boost through the signings of Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare, while New York added some run-defense support in David Onyemata.

The Jets also addressed linebacker, which was one of the squad’s biggest weaknesses last year, by adding Demario Davis, who remains one of the league’s top linebackers despite entering his age-37 season. For the 2025 season, Davis’ 81.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus ranked sixth among 88 qualified linebackers.

The Jets made their best value adds in the secondary, nabbing Dane Belton and Nahshon Wright on team-friendly contracts.

Belton’s track record has a ton of upside when it comes to generating turnovers. Throughout just 22 career starts, Belton has already logged four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and six interceptions.

The same could be said about Wright, who earned Pro Bowl honors in 2025 after he tied Jaycee Horn for the most interceptions among cornerbacks (5) while also forcing two fumbles and recovering three more.

However, it is also important to note that Wright struggled mightily in coverage despite being a monster on the ball, allowing 725 yards and seven touchdowns on 83 targets, each ranking as the fifth-most among cornerbacks last season.

Despite that, signing Wright to a one-year deal worth up to only $5.5 million is a low-risk, high-reward move for a New York defense that made history by not recording a single interception last season.

The only free-agent addition the Jets made on the offensive side of the ball was a savvy one, signing Dylan Parham to a two-year, $16 million deal after losing John Simpson to the Baltimore Ravens.

At 26 years old, Parham was the only promising player on the Las Vegas Raiders’ atrocious line in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus’ overall grades, Parham ranked 14th-best among left guards with at least 500 snaps.

Beyond that, Parham also has NFL experience at right guard and center, though he has primarily played left guard since entering the league in 2022.

Out of the players Gang Green lost on the open market, the only one that stings is Nick Folk. The 41-year-old has led the NFL in field goal percentage since 2023 (96.3%) and only missed one kick for the Jets last season.

Other than that, the team was wise to let Simpson walk and not to overpay for a declining Quincy Williams. Alijah Vera-Tucker, Micheal Clemons, and Tony Adams each needed fresh starts.

Overall grade

Overall, Mougey and the Jets deserve an A-.

Fans should be very pleased with the team’s moves. They filled a plethora of defensive holes while finding excellent defensive value along the way, and they landed an upgrade at left guard. At the end of the day, the Jets are a better team than they were a week ago.

Beyond losing Folk, the only fair criticism of Mougey is for not adding a wide receiver, as that remains a glaring hole for Gang Green. However, there are still a few names available that should be on the Jets’ radar.

All in all, the team has done a solid job. They became a better team while avoiding the type of contracts that tend to age poorly.