After going a full decade without a winning season, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson appears to be all-in on finally crafting a winner. After sending the old regime packing midway through last season, Johnson brought in a tantalizing GM-head coach duo and handed them the reigns. Following Johnson’s example, GM Daren Mougey has made several splashy moves, from extending two players on historic new contracts to signing arguably the best available quarterback in free agency, the Jets have been big movers this offseason.

One move in particular has been dubbed New York’s best move so far, per Pro Football Focus. Dalton Wasserman, an NFL analyst for PFF, recently put out a list of each team’s best move of the offseason and for the Jets in 2025, that was Johnson’s decision to bring in fresh leadership.

Defending this choice, Wasserman writes, “General manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn should be somewhat familiar with each other, as they’ve both worked in separate stints with Sean Payton. Glenn most recently comes from Detroit, where organizational alignment and a physical playstyle were the bedrock of success. New York’s talented offensive line and defense may offer a quicker route to improvement than the Lions had to suffer through in the early stages of their rebuild.”

While I agree with Wasserman that a change in leadership was desperately needed, I don’t quite share his rosy optimism of New York’s ongoing rebuild for one important reason. The Lions already had a proven quarterback in Jared Goff when Aaron Glenn arrived with GM Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell. Sure, Goff was seen as something of a disappointment at that stage in his career, hence the trade from the Rams, but he was a two-time Pro Bowler and had played in a Super Bowl.

The Jets, on the other hand, have Justin Fields. I did say earlier that he was arguably the best available quarterback in free agency. That’s true, and he still has potential to be great, but he’s dangerously close to ‘bust’ territory after four lackluster years in the NFL. He’s just not at this moment the same caliber of quarterback that Goff when he was traded.

I’d love to be wrong about Fields, but I just have to see it before I can believe in him.