After an abysmal 2-7 start to the 2025 NFL season, the New York Jets and general manager Darren Mougey are now focusing their attention on the future of the franchise.

The push for a rebuild under the newly-hired general manager has already begun, as the struggling franchise managed to ship off both cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams during the NFL trade deadline.

Both deals put the team in a prime position to acquire young talent in the next two draft classes, with the Jets now possessing two first-round picks in the 2026 draft and three first-round picks in the 2027 draft. In addition to the slew of draft picks, New York also received two unproven players in wide receiver AD Mitchell and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.

While it may seem obvious that the Jets must revamp the defense after trading away the team’s cornerstone playmakers on that side of the ball, there are many issues on offense that need to be addressed this upcoming offseason.

The Justin Fields experiment completely failed in 2025, which likely indicates that the organization used one of its first-round picks on a quarterback. However, in order to ensure a successful transition for New York’s next quarterback, the Jets must improve the offensive line.

Mougey managed to knock it out of the park with the selection of offensive tackle Armand Membou in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, as he’s done a terrific job throughout his rookie season. And former 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu continues to show steady improvement in his second season.

James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) on X Armand Membou tape is pretty much as good as it gets for a rookie in his 1st start vs. a good defense. Backside cutoffs were automatic

Outside of the young tackle duo, the interior of the offensive line has been a huge weakness of the offense this season. This decline in production up front began earlier in the year, after former 2021 first-round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered a season-ending injury.

The setback led to head coach Aaron Glenn shifting center Joe Tippmann to right guard and plugging veteran Josh Myers in at center, which has not been ideal for the offense this season.

To make matters worse, Vera-Tucker is set to become a free agent after this season, and 2025 was going to be his “prove it” year under a new regime. Depending on how much interest he draws in the open market, Mougey could be better off looking elsewhere for another guard due to Vera-Tucker’s extensive injury history.

Unfortunately for the Jets, the upcoming free agent guard class looks slim, which means the front office might need to use their ample amount of draft capital to fill the void.

Luckily, New York received the Cowboys’ 2026 second-round pick, giving the organization two second-round picks. Mougey could either select a player in round two or even trade back to gain additional picks and select a guard later in the draft.