Just days after finding their new head coach, the New York Jets have found their new general manager as the team hired Denver Broncos assistant general manager Darren Mougey to fill the role, it announced Saturday.
"Darren is a trusted NFL executive who has experience working with an impressive collection of football leaders," Jets owner Woody Johnson said in a statement. "He is a proven talent evaluator who impressed us with his vision for this team. His partnership with Coach Glenn will revitalize this organization. I am proud of the thorough search we undertook and that it led us to the two best individuals to lead our football team going forward."
IT'S OFFICIAL! We’ve hired Darren Mougey as our new General Manager.
— New York Jets (@nyjets) January 26, 2025
📰: https://t.co/V7X5JLY7CF pic.twitter.com/on6mb0tqXF
Mougey replaces the departed Joe Douglas, who was fired during the 2024 season along with former head coach Robert Saleh and former offensive Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets hired former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator (and New York Jets defensive back) Aaron Glenn as their head coach earlier this week, and Glenn and Mougey will now work together to lead the next era of Jets football.
"It is one of the great honors and privileges of my life to serve as the general manager of the New York Jets," Mougey said. "I want to thank Mr. Johnson for this responsibility, one I do not take lightly. I could not be more excited to work alongside Coach Glenn to build a championship team that will make Jets fans proud."
Mougey was a former wide receiver at San Diego State, where he was a college teammate of Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. He went undrafted in 2009 and spent two years on the Falcons and Cardinals' practice squads before joining the Broncos as a scouting intern in 2012.
Mougey slowly moved his way up in Denver's personnel department, holding the titles of Personnel and Scouting Assistant, College and Pro Personnel Scout, Area Scout, Assistant Director of College Scouting, Director of Player Personnel and finally Assistant General Manager, which is the title he held for the last four years.
According to NFL Media, Mougey has been a "sounding board" for Broncos coach Sean Payton since his arrival in Denver, which gives him a connection to Glenn. Prior to arriving in Detroit, Glenn served as the defensive backs coach under Payton with the New Orleans Saints. As noted by ESPN, Glenn was also in the meeting as part of Denver's search committee when the club interviewed Glenn for its head coaching vacancy back in 2022. Fast forward a few years later and the two unite in East Rutherford.
At 39 years old, Mougey becomes the third-youngest general manager in the NFL, only looking up to Cleveland's Andrew Berry (youngest) and Chicago's Ryan Poles.