Jets GM Darren Mougey goes all-in gambling on future

Darren Mougey said he was sleep-deprived, losing his voice, and felt like he was “running with half a brain” by the time the NFL trade deadline rolled around on Tuesday evening.

Rest up, pal. The real work still needs to get done.

The first-year general manager of the Jets certainly showed he knows how to make big bold trades. If he can figure out how to draft just as loudly and just as well, his actions on Tuesday may be a turning point for the Jets.

In the most seismic and shocking NFL interaction between the Jets and Colts since Super Bowl III, Mougey, the first-year general manager in New York who had just signed cornerback Sauce Gardner to a four-year, $120.4 million extension in July, traded the popular player to Indianapolis. Following up on that shortly afterward the Jets sent defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, their longest-tenured every-down player, to Dallas.

What they got back in exchange was a future, a pair of first-round picks from the Colts and a 2026 second-rounder with a 2027 first-rounder from the Cowboys. That will become the nest egg from which the Jets now need to spin a quarterback and other assorted pieces that could allow them to compete for the next decade.

For the Colts and Cowboys these were win-now moves.

For the Jets they are win-later ones. Maybe even, dare to dream, win-soon?

But they have to use the picks properly, otherwise it’s all for nothing. They have to find their own Jaxson Dart or Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye for these to be the smart choices. They need to be in a situation where Aaron Glenn doesn’t have to play quarterback sneak with naming his starter each week because all the world will already know who will be under center.

They’ll already have a very high pick in the 2026 draft due to this season’s record and now they should have the ammunition to make sure they get first crack at the passer they deem to have the top talent and potential in this class. Dante Moore? Fernando Mendoza? A generation after they were spurned by Peyton Manning’s decision to stay in college an extra year might they reap the rewards of his nephew Arch Manning coming out sooner than many expect?

Or perhaps they plan to go with a bridge quarterback next season — maybe even stick with Justin Fields if his most recent level of performance can be maintained — and wait for the 2027 draft that most scouts feel will be stacked with talent at the position. They now own three first-round picks in that class.

“It gives us good flexibility going into the draft this year and next year,” the clearly exhausted Mougey said.

Do all of this properly and Gardner and Williams will become collateral footnotes to the Jets’ coming successes. Fans will wear their 1 and 95 jerseys, newly throwbacks, with pride for what their departure brought here.

Fail, wind up with yet another flop like Zach Wilson or a late bloomer like Sam Darnold whom they couldn’t wait for, and the Jets will be back in the same cycle they’ve been mired in for nearly six decades now. The trades will become cautionary tales instead of origin tales. And it will almost certainly be Mougey’s replacement who eventually tries again.

This wasn’t their plan exactly, at least not until recently. It just became the one they are now using. The Jets did see Gardner as a cornerstone to build around just as they declared him to be in July. But they also structured that contract so it could be tradeable. So when the Colts called with their offers that Mougey said got “richer and richer” — eventually it included the two first-round picks plus wide receiver Adonai Mitchell for Gardner — it was “too good to pass up.” Once that deal was completed, moving Williams was much easier for them to stomach.

The Jets have been zoned for rebuilding since Mougey and Glenn arrived. They cleared a few obstacles toward it with some of their previous decisions that included releasing Aaron Rodgers and moving on from C.J. Mosley along with a few other maneuvers. On Tuesday they truly broke ground on the project, though. The bulldozers and wrecking balls have rolled in.

It’s scary and uncertain and it makes the next two months virtually meaningless. But it’s what the Jets needed. It’s what they have always needed: A complete overhaul.

It was always difficult to envision the Jets becoming contenders during Williams’ remaining tenure here. There was a chance with Gardner and the four remaining seasons of his contract, but even that was going to be difficult given the lifespan of premier cornerbacks and the fact that Gardner has yet to top his rookie season in terms of playing level.

Still, Gardner and Williams always had one goal while they were here: To make the Jets winners.

They couldn’t do it on the field for the team. We’ll find out very soon if they can facilitate it by playing elsewhere.

The Jets have no immediate in-house replacement for Gardner this season so at some point they will need to find a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback. And they’ll need an anchor to their defensive line, too, although receiving Mazi Smith in the deal with the Cowboys will help in the immediacy. Those pieces can be acquired in any number of ways, though. The draft, free agency, eBay.

Landing a franchise quarterback is trickier. It is also the key to everything in the NFL.

As of Tuesday, Mougey and the Jets have the assets to try to get that done. They haven’t won the trades yet, though. For that to happen they have to utilize the picks properly.

Mougey and Glenn’s first draft together did provide a few indications that they know what they are doing. Armand Membou and Mason Taylor seem like solid picks from their first draft. And Mougey also had a hand in Denver’s selection of Bo Nix a year and a half ago when he was an assistant for the Broncos so he understands the process of scouting and selecting a quarterback.

Those picks were just throat-clearing exercises compared to the next ones Mougey makes. He will need to be at full voice for those. And full brain.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.