New Jets GM’s worst moves so far might be the ones he hasn’t made

The New York Jets saw cornerback D.J. Reed leave the team for the Detroit Lions this offseason and in his place, Darren Mougey brought in former Baltimore Ravens corner Brandon Stephens. I have not been quiet about what a garbage move I thought that was to kick off his first offseason as the Jets GM but it isn’t even the worst move he has made at the cornerback position.

Today we saw Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr sign a three-year extension with team to the tune of $90 million. That move comes just about a week after the Carolina Panthers gave cornerback Jaycee Horn a four-year extension worth $100 million. Those two deals have completely reset the cornerback market and the Jets have arguably the best young cornerback in the game watching his value sky rocket.

Earlier this offseason I laid out a mock offseason plan for the Jets and my number one and two priorities was to get Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson signed to extensions. We know how they good they and we know they are foundational pieces for any roster. At the time of writing that piece, the best cornerback in the league, Pat Surtain, was months removed from a four-year deal worth $96 million. That was the high-end dollar amount for a cornerback of Sauce’s caliber. Now, the world looks very different.

By sitting on his hands with the two best players on his roster, Mougey will now have to negotiate in a world where the top corners in the league make $30 million a year and not $24 or even $25 million like it was just a few short weeks ago.

A similar thing is happening in the wide receiver market. Ja’Marr Chase’s record deal with the Cincinnati Bengals sets the high point at over $40 million per season for the top wide receiver. While I don’t think anyone thinks Garrett Wilson is Chase, the numbers are still climbing as each day goes by.

And how did the Bengals wind up in that situation? By waiting until the price rose new heights, and they were forced to pony up more money than they wanted to. That is exactly what the Jets are doing. Waiting. What once might have been a $100 million deal is now a $120 million deal.

Mougey has not been very quick to work on a deal with his own two players, preferring instead to sign every 27-year old in free agency (except the good ones) to short term deals. Every day he waits and every other deal that is signed around the league is more ammunition for these players and their agents to drive the price up on the Jets. The market is not going to correct itself. As the salary cap goes up, so do the prices for the players looking for a piece of it.

Mougey was brought in to build a winning team and you do with good talent. If he can’t recognize the high-end talent on his own team and understand the need to not drag out negotiations like the Bengals and Dallas Cowboys have done, then I would be comfortable saying he isn’t fit for the job.