New York Jets provide detail on Rick Spielman hiring

Reporting from Florham Park, NJ — New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey is in complete control of the front office, just as Aaron Glenn is in complete control of his coaching staff and locker room.

Yet, despite the clear and obvious positive links for the two executives in their first few months on the job, they both are still relatively inexperienced as they had into their first draft and workout sessions together.

That inexperience can lead to plenty of mistakes.

This is why Mougey sought out the advice and leadership of a former top executive in the game.

Mougey, Jets Explain Rick Spielman Hiring

When the Jets announced that they were hiring former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman to a senior advisor role, most of the fanbase seemed overjoyed with the news.

After all, Spielman built a highly successful Vikings roster with plenty of Pro Bowl and All-Pro caliber talents. That experience led Mougey to believe Spielman was the perfect experienced mind to help him along in the offseason process.

“I knew I wanted to add some type of senior advisor to this staff when I got here, had a few different candidates, and when I got here, couldn’t get certain ones, but was talking to all of them, really got to know Rick a little bit through it, but I heard a lot of great things about him,” Mougey said. “I mean, you look around the league, almost all these GMs have a lot of former executives or former GMs on staff, so it’s something I wanted to do.

“Rick had some other options to join some other teams and I had to really recruit him to get him to come here, and glad I got him because he’s been awesome through so many different steps of the way and through this draft process he’s been involved just like a scout, sitting in the room, hearing it all, bouncing ideas off, so Rick’s been great.”

Make no mistake, both Mougey and Glenn are still in complete control of their roster construction at this point for the Jets.

Being able to have an experienced mind as an advisor can’t be overstated, though. And it’s one of the big reasons why New York is confident the current regime can turn around its decades of losing.

That is the hope at the very least.