Aaron Glenn Is Rebuilding the Jets His Way. And It's Working.
What the Jets Are Building
3-14. Fifteen consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance. Dead last in takeaways with just four on the year, 29th in run defense, second-to-last in points allowed.
But if you stopped paying attention heading into this offseason, you missed the point entirely.
Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn are not trying to patch the 2025 roster. They are building something structurally different, and the framework they are laying right now is more deliberate than most people are willing to credit. Glenn is assembling a roster that fits his scheme, his culture, and his vision as a head coach. The 2025 season was his first. This offseason is his first real statement.
The Moves That Matter
The Jets entered free agency with roughly $74 million in cap space, fifth most in the league. They did not spend carelessly. They targeted ascending players, retained the pieces that matter, and brought in veteran leadership to reset the tone in a locker room that clearly needed it.
Start with the most underrated move of the entire offseason.
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Acquired: From Miami Dolphins for a 2026 7th-round pick
Contract: 3 Years | Total: $40M | AAV: $13.3M
What he brings: All-Pro range, top-of-defense command, immediate credibility in the secondary
A 7th-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick. Amazing value The Jets' secondary was a liability in 2025, and Mougey went out and landed one of the best safeties in the NFL for essentially nothing. That is elite roster management. The numbers tell a different story than the critics want to tell about this front office.
Then there is Demario Davis.
Demario Davis
Contract: Years 2 | Total: $22M | AAV: $11M
What he brings: Veteran run-stopper, 98.3% snap rate last season, defense-commanding presence at linebacker
I know the red flag. He is 37. Here is the thing: Davis played virtually every defensive snap last year and was elite doing it. Quincy Williams departed, leaving a real leadership void at the second level. Davis fills it with experience, accountability, and exactly the kind of defensive identity Glenn is trying to build. Glenn coached him in New Orleans. He knows what he is walking in with. This is a front office move that doubles as a culture move, and those are often the most valuable ones.
The EDGE signings reflect the same philosophy: find ascending players under 27 and bet on development.
Joseph Ossai
Contract: Years 3 | Total: $34.5M | AAV: $11.5M | Guaranteed: $22.5M
What he brings: 26-year-old edge rusher with a career-high pressure rate, fills the Jermaine Johnson void
Trading Jermaine Johnson stung on paper. But T'Vondre Sweat came back from Tennessee to anchor the interior, and Ossai gives the Jets a young, ascending edge rusher with three years of cost certainty. Paired with Kingsley Enagbare for depth, this defensive line is more versatile and better structured than it was twelve months ago.
Franchising Breece Hall was the right call, now an extension needs to be made. This offensive line is young and ascending. Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou at the tackles, Dylan Parham adding experienced depth on the interior. That group needs another full season together, and Hall gives the run game the anchor it needs while the line develops. You do not disrupt that momentum for the sake of saving cap space at running back when you have $37 million still in play.
What They Still Need
Free agency is not finished, and the Jets have real work left to do. A legitimate Wide Receiver 2 is the most pressing gap on the roster. Garrett Wilson cannot carry this passing game alone, and the current depth behind him is unproven. A high-upside cornerback would strengthen the back end beyond what Nahshon Wright and Brandon Stephens can consistently provide. Running back depth behind Hall is thin after injuries decimated that room in 2025.
None of these are fatal. They are the next priorities before the draft, and the Jets still have the cap space and the market to address them.
The Draft Blueprint
Four picks in the top 44. This is where the Jets cash in on the Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams trades, and this is where the rebuild either accelerates or stalls.
Round 1, Pick 2: Arvell Reese | EDGE/LB | Ohio State
The Ohio State hybrid gives Aaron Glenn exactly the positional versatility he is building this defense around. Line him up at edge, deploy him in coverage situationally, and let Demario Davis be his mentor from Day 1. That pairing has real development upside. Reese is the pick at No. 2 because he fits the scheme and because this defense needs a pass rusher who can also think on the field. Glenn will unlock him.
Round 1, Pick 16 (via IND): Spencer Fano | OL | Utah
Fano can play tackle or guard, and the Jets draft him to shore up the interior. Fashanu, Membou, and Fano in the same room is a genuine strength in two seasons. The offensive line is the foundation of this entire rebuild. You do not miss on a chance to add a versatile, high-ceiling lineman at No. 16 when the room is already trending in the right direction.
Round 2, Pick 33: Caleb Banks | DT | Florida
Banks brings elite athleticism, a 5.04 forty at his size, long arms, and real disruption ability at the point of attack as a run stopper. His injury history and developing technique could push him down the board far enough for the Jets to capitalize on market value. This is exactly the type of pick Mougey has shown he is capable of identifying. If Banks is gone, Kayden McDonald from Ohio State is the contingency: 6-foot-2, 326 pounds, quick off the snap, dominant in the run game, and a player Aaron Glenn can genuinely develop given his defensive pedigree.
Round 2, Pick 44 (via DAL): Chris Johnson | CB | San Diego State
Clean footwork, fluid hips, no penalty issues, and a willingness to attack in the run game. Johnson addresses the vacancy left by Sauce Gardner and pairs with Azareye'h Thomas to build real secondary depth behind Fitzpatrick. This secondary can be elite in 12 months if they add the right pieces, and Johnson at No. 44 is worth taking.
The Bottom Line
The Jets are not a playoff team in 2026. Geno Smith is a bridge, not the answer, and everyone in that building knows it. The destination is the 2027 draft class, where Arch Manning, Dante Moore, LaNorris Sellers, and Julian Sayin represent the kind of franchise quarterback talent this organization has it's sights on. The Jets already have three first-round picks locked in for that class.
What 2026 needs to look like: an offensive line that improves week over week, a defense with a real identity under Glenn's coordination, a culture that is visibly different than the dysfunction of 2025, and a roster that is structured to bring a developmental quarterback in and actually give him something to work with. Mason Taylor at tight end, Garrett Wilson at receiver, Breece Hall in the backfield. The skeleton is there.
Most people are sleeping on how well this offseason has already gone. Aaron Glenn is building this the right way. The capital is in place. The leaders are in the building. Now execute the draft, and 2027 becomes something worth watching.
Evan Hanvey | evanh7112@gmail.com
