Broncos assistant GM Darren Mougey emerges as strong candidate for New York Jets’ general manager post

Winning leads to talented people leaving through promotions.

After the Broncos reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015, powered by powerful draft classes, assistant general manager Darren Mougey has emerged as a strong candidate to land the New York Jets’ GM job.

Mougey, 39, conducted a second interview Thursday with the Jets, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post. The source said Mougey was back at the Broncos’ facility on Friday morning and has not yet been informed of the Jets’ final decision.

Mougey told The Post recently that he felt good about his first interview, leaving excited about the position and its prospects.

According to a Sports Illustrated report, Mougey is a finalist along with Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown and Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark.

The Jets have operated in a different manner this offseason, interviewing more than 15 coaching candidates without a GM in place.

The Jets hired their former defensive back Aaron Glenn, most recently the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, as their new head coach earlier this week.

New York fired coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas during a disappointing season that continued the league’s longest active playoff drought of 14 years despite the presence of future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Mougey joined the Broncos in 2012 during John Elway’s GM tenure. He worked his way up to director of player personnel before current GM George Paton made him his right-hand man in 2022. While the Broncos have missed on trades and free agent signings, most notably with quarterback Russell Wilson and edge rusher Randy Gregory, strong draft classes helped steer the franchise to a 10-8 record this season. Denver received big contributions from Pat Surtain II, Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Riley Moss and Marvin Mims Jr., among others.