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Haven’t written anything about Darren Mougey’s press conference pre-draft press conference in this space yet.
There is a good reason, he didn’t say much of anything, and and admitted he wouldn’t say anything at the top of the press conference.
He was talking about calling other teams about potential trades, and said, “Everyone kind of says the same thing, a lot of nothing like you will hear today.”
So the press conference was filled with “a lot of nothing, ” which isn’t a cheap shot. I’m using his own words.
Look, this isn’t about winning press conferences, it’s about winning on Sunday.
Mougey doesn’t exactly light up the room in his press briefings, but who cares?
As Al Davis liked to say, “Just win baby.”
And they need to win “now.” Glenn said as much after he decided to release Aaron Rodgers.
“Every decision that me and Moug make is to win, and to win now,” Glenn said.
So they need to “win now.” Nobody should be cut any slack because it’s the first year of new program.
No way.
And they should not be cut slack because they cut a future Hall-of-Fame QB and they are rolling the dice one that has a 14-30 record.
No way.
Nobody should be graded on a curve in a multi-billion-dollar business.
No way.
As Joe Douglas liked to say, “If you goal isn’t to win the Super Bowl every year, you are in the wrong business.”
So I really don’t care Mougey’s press briefings are boring and brief and nor should anybody else.
Let’s see how he and Glenn handle the draft, let’s see what kind of roster they construct, let’s see what kind of culture they build.
Some would argue their first big signing as a tandem, giving a QB with a dubious NFL resume, Justin Fields, a two-year deal for $40 million with $30 million guaranteed, was a little surprising.
“I’m sure they [Pittsburgh] didn’t expect him [Fields] to get that kind of offer,” said long-time Steelers insider Gerry Dulac on NFL Network. “The guy won 10 games in three years in Chicago and played six games last year. That is not a quality body of work to get a $40 million dollar two-year deal.”
And then on top of paying Fields that kind of money, the Jets anointed him the starter without a QB competition.
“Yeah, we feel really good about Justin as our starter moving forward and believe in Justin, and we can win with Justin, and he was a priority in free agency, and we’re glad we got him here,” Mougey said.
Giving Fields that kind of money, and handing him the job with no competition raised some eyebrows. But hey, it could work out great. We will see. They are 0-0 with Fields as their starter right now.
Just saying those two big decisions by Glenn and Mougey surprised film-driven people. Fields’ film is suspect.
The fantasy football crowd loves the move because Fields is a good runner and throws a nice deep ball.
We will see if the Jets can get him to see the full field better, and throw with more anticipation, and be more than a “see it, throw it” QB.
But when it comes to evaluating Mougey/Glenn, let’s ignore the press conferences and just look at the won-loss record, roster and culture they put together.
April 23, 2025
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