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NBC Sports did a ranking of all current NFL GMs and put Darren Mougey dead last.
He was ranked 29th because they didn’t include two teams with first-year GMs (Atlanta and Miami), and Minnesota is currently looking for a new GM.
I usually don’t get too much into this ranking nonsense, which really doesn’t mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, but this is so unfair that I wanted to comment on it.
First of all, the three people right in front of him, from 26-28, should not be ranked in front of anybody right now.
#26 – John Spytek (Las Vegas Raiders)
#27 – Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee Titans)
#28 – Monti Ossenfort (Arizona Cardinals)
In his first year as Raiders GM last year, Spytek was the overlord of the worst team in the NFL, and that is why they got the first pick in the draft, and picking Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, which was a no-brainer. The Raiders roster in his first year was the worst in the NFL. Yes, he made some needle-moving moves in free agency this year, but also made the Maxx Crosby trade to Baltimore, which fell through.
There is no way Spytek should be ahead of Mougey.
Why would Borgonzi be ahead of Mougey? The jury is still out on his pick of QB Cam Ward #1 overall last year? And this year picking a wide receiver at #4 overall, Carnell Tate, who was the #2 receiver at Ohio State opposite Jeremiah Smith (Geno’s cousin)? You don’t need to pick WRs that high; you can get them later. It will be interesting to see who turns out to be the better pro, Tate, picked fourth, or Omar Cooper picked 30th. Time will tell, but my gut tells me that Mougey fleeced Borgonzi, landing massive nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat for defensive end Jermaine Johnson, who had three sacks last year.
And speaking of picking skill players too high, that takes us to Ossenfort, who picked a running back third overall, Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Love. They had to guarantee the running back $53 million since he was picked third overall, so an unproven NFL RB got $24 million more guaranteed in his deal, then Breece Hall. Bad business picking running backs that high. Last year’s NFL rushing champion, Buffalo’s James Cook, entered the league as a second-round pick, as did Hall.
Who is the Cardinals’ QB?
Look, I’m not going to go over the whole list here, but I can assure you Mougey should not have been ranked lower than Spytek, Borgonzi and Ossenfort.
Look, Mougey still has a lot to prove, but he’s quietly done some very good things, trading two overpaid assets, Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, for a truckload of high draft picks. I’m not saying Gardner and Williams are bad players, but their contracts with the Jets were not commensurate with their contributions on the field. And they were losing with them last year, so they could lose without them.
And Mougey landed four potential starters in the first two rounds this year – DE David Bailey, TE Kenyon Sadiq, Cooper and CB D’Angelo Ponds, who all should have be big impact on the Jets’ fortunes this year and beyond.
As for Mougey’s work in his first off-season with the Jets, last year, as the GM of one of the worst teams in the NFL last season, perhaps he deserves a little slack on that. I’m not sure how much power he had last year. Reading the tea leaves, it seemed like the head coach came in with football-czar type power, kind of like Sean Payton has in Denver. Yes, Mougey had the GM title, but it seemed like Glenn had the lion’s share of the power.
According to Mike Francessa, there was an adjustment made after last season.
“Glenn was clearly… the voice and the power of the whole thing,” Francessa said on his podcast. “And you can see now, if you’re paying attention, that has shifted dramatically there,” Francesa said. “Mougey’s now in charge and clearly, my understanding is Woody made a decision that Mougey’s in charge.”
A couple of beatwriters shot down this report, but how do they know there wasn’t a powershift?
Do you think Francessa made that up out of whole cloth?
Not exactly sure how the power structure might have been altered after last season, but you get the sense Mougey has a little more juice than he did a year ago.
So I’m not going to judge the Jets GM based on last year. I’m going to start the judgment clock in 2026.
I can assure you, he’s not the worst GM in the league.
And to put him behind Spytek, Borgonzi, and Ossenfort is patently absurd.
May 21, 2026
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