Darren Mougey has reached a seeming midway point between the frenzy of the free agency signing period and the calm before the late-April storm known as the NFL Draft.
Yet in reality, the first-year general manager is just pausing briefly to catch his breath.
"No time. Especially right now, no time," Mougey said with a laugh about getting some golf in during breaks in the schedule at the annual league meeting in West Palm Beach, FL. About getting up to speed as the Jets' GM, he said: "It's been a whirlwind. You hit the ground running. But it's been a lot of fun. ... it's been awesome."
The signing of quarterback Justin Fields was at the top of Mougey's free agency list and he discussed the ins and outs of the process of adding the young, exciting, growing fifth-year signal-caller with newyorkjets.com senior reporter Eric Allen in West Palm.
And the pattern for the rest of the Jets' free agency signings so far have closely followed the Fields script.
"We talked about it in the offseason, going into the free agency market," Mougey said. "We did want to put an emphasis on staying young, bringing in second-contract guys, continuing the youth movement. And it worked out."
One of those signings was not of a new import but rather was a key re-signing of Jamien Sherwood, the Jets' QB on the defensive side of the ball.
"We were able to keep Jamien in the building as the 'green-dot player' and Mike linebacker. That was one of our priorities going into it," the GM said. "Before I even took the job, just watching Sherwood play, seeing this player that kind of hit the scene, got his opportunity and made the most of it ... He's still a young player but he made a ton of plays, he's long, he's athletic, he can run. So I was really encouraged and intrigued.
"Then once I got in the building and had a lot of conversations internally with different staff, coaches, players, it was rave reviews about the person and the player. So that made it easy."
Mougey had similar scouting-oriented comments in his first public remarks about many of the new additions that he, first-year head coach Aaron Glenn and the Jets added to the roster in the past several weeks.
Secondary — S Andre Cisco, CB Brandon Stephens, CB/ST Kris Boyd
"Those two players, we felt they fit the profile of what we're looking for. Brandon is long, he's athletic, he can play physical, press-man, he can run with speed, which is something we really were looking for that attracted us to him. And the safeties in AG's systems have played well. Cisco was another guy, an athletic-profile fit that we were looking for. And really, getting Isaiah Oliver back and Tony Adams as well. ... We're excited to get the whole group back."
Defensive Line — Derrick Nnadi, Byron Cowart, Jay Tufele, Rashad Weaver
"Derrick has been part of a great program in the league [with the Chiefs] and he's another guy that has size, has played well. We're just adding depth and good players to the room."
Offensive Line — C Josh Myers, T Chukwuma Okorafor
"Josh is a guy that's played a lot of good football in this league, has a lot of experience, and it never hurts to add good depth to the position and competition. 'Chukes' has played a lot of football in Pittsburgh, it didn't work out last year in New England, but he's still young, under 30, has played right tackle, so we're excited to add both those guys. ... We know [Joe] Tippmann's played right guard and [Alijah] Vera-Tucker's played right tackle, so [Myers] does give you some flexibility. But really, the emphasis was just adding competition and good depth to the room."
Wide Receiver — Tyler Johnson, Josh Reynolds
"With Josh, there was system familiarity there. He's been around AG and Tanner [Engstrand, Jets offensive coordinator] in Detroit, we had him last year in Denver. He's an experienced vet and it was a good add to the room. Garrett Wilson, he's a stud, so we feel good about that group."
Tight End — Stone Smartt
"We're excited about Stone. There's still a lot of upside and growth there. He's a former quarterback, still learning the position, but he's athletic. And that's another position we'll continue to evaluate throughout this next step, really, the draft."
That's what keeps Mougey on the go, even in a warm-weather golf hotspot like South Florida. He'll return to One Jets Drive in the coming days so that he and the Jets' scouts can get "bunkered in" for the three weeks leading into the April 24-26 draft, one more important step in the building process for the new GM and HC.
"With all of our positions, we'll continue to look to add," Mougey said. "Whether that's in the offseason, different avenues, the draft, wherever it may be, we'll always be looking to add good depth pieces and as much firepower as we can."
