“If we love the player, let’s go get him,” said HC Aaron Glenn. “And I think [Mougey] does a really good job, number one, of me and him communicating on like how should we go about doing this, and I think he’s said this before, man, he’s going to answer the phone, which I love that because you never know, you never know. The draft day, I love that day, I really do because you just never know what’s going to happen. You hear all these guys that are going to get drafted in these certain spots and it’s never that, so to me that’s the exciting part of it and I love every part of it. Hell, I was a part of that when I came out. Shoot, I thought I was going to be the sixth pick, and I wound up going 12, so that’s how it happens.”
Since being hired as GM of the Jets in January 2025, Mougey has executed 14 trades with 11 teams. Last November, Mougey acquired a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027-first round pick and WR Adonai Mitchell from Indianapolis in exchange for CB Sauce Gardner. He also obtained a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick plus DT Mazi Smith from Dallas in a swap that sent DT Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys.
“I’m always going to pick up the phone,” Mougey said. “I’m always going to be making calls and just exhausting all options and mechanisms, any player acquisition.”
As far as draft picks, Mougey has acquired 12 and traded 13 – 11 of those being sixth- or seventh-round picks. If it makes sense to move this weekend, Mougey will pull the trade lever and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did in multiple times. He continues to take a calculated approach and will make the value play. Darren Mougey is always open.
“You never really know until you get in the draft, but it’s fun to build those boards and have those projections and talk about the different scenarios,” he said.