There are many things that set New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey apart from his predecessor, Joe Douglas.

So far, the wins aren’t among them.

Like Douglas, Mougey has yet to deliver many wins during his tenure with the team. But while Douglas’ tenure in New York was always marked by odd decisions when it came to retaining top talent, Mougey has seemingly learned from his predecessor’s mistakes.

Gone are the days when the Jets would price themselves out of keeping their own star talent. No longer has Gang Green waited until the last minute to get a deal done.

Mougey’s Jets are forward-thinking, more so than the Douglas-run ship.

And the extension agreement with Breece Hall is the clearest example of why.

Mougey stands out for Jets

Under Joe Douglas, the Jets would have waited until the very last moment to extend the former second-round pick out of Iowa State. While Hall was coming off a 1,000-yard season in 2025, the Douglas regime would probably have waited until the contract extensions of De’Vone Achane in Miami, Bijan Robinson in Atlanta, and Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit.

By that point, the running back market would have priced itself out of Douglas’ comfort zone.

And as it did with the likes of edge rusher Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers, it would’ve led to a good player leaving the team, or a considerable overpay.

New York doesn’t have to worry about that now, though. Mougey understood the importance of getting deals done early. By agreeing to the three-year, $43.5 million contract earlier in the week, the Jets have gotten ahead of extensions for Achane, Robinson, and Gibbs.

Case in point: just two days after Hall agreed to a deal that made him the third-highest paid runner in the sport at $14.5 million per year, Achane’s $16 million per year average trumped his total.

Would that have been the case if Douglas were leading things? History tells fans no.

Even Hall acknowledged how shocked he was with how quickly the negotiations took place under Mougey’s watchful eye.

“It was definitely a blessing,” he said. “Honestly, I was surprised it got done as fast as it got done…Good moment for myself and my family.”

It’s clear that the Jets are being run far differently now than they were a few years ago. Part of that could be an increase in trust from ownership on down. But the reality is that Douglas’s and Mougey’s philosophies have always been different.

The best way for Mougey to further distance himself, though, is by doing the one thing no Jets leader has done in 15 years…

Win.