New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey has become a polarizing figure in the world of Jets football.
Some fans are ready to kick Mougey to the curb with Aaron Glenn. Others think both leaders deserve time to figure things out. Some think Glenn should go while Mougey has done a solid enough job.
When dishing takes about Mougey, though, it’s important to be balanced, crediting him fairly for both his hits and his misses.
It’s early in the 2026 season, but one of Mougey’s biggest hits is shaping up to be his work at the safety position.
According to a chart from analyst Judah Fortgang, Jets safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Dane Belton rank among the league’s best safeties in terms of both preventing separation and on-ball coverage. Together, they clearly form the best pairing of safeties in the NFL across those two paramount categories.
After fielding one of the NFL’s worst safety units in 2025, Mougey went to work in the 2026 offseason. First, he sent a seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Fitzpatrick and signed the All-Pro to a three-year, $40 million contract. Later, Mougey inked Belton, a former Giant, to a one-year, $4 million deal, which already seemed like an excellent upside bet at the time.
Five games into 2026, they look like the best safety duo in the NFL, particularly in coverage.
Fitzpatrick has only played two full games for the Jets, but in that short time, he has racked up 20 total tackles, zero missed tackles, an interception, and a pass deflection.
Belton, in five starts, has collected 38 total tackles, two pass deflections, and a sack. He is tied for the sixth-most defensive stops among safeties (11) and has only missed three tackles. In coverage, Belton has yet to allow a touchdown or commit a penalty, and he has given up just 59 yards on 11 targets (5.4 yards per target).
We still have about 70% of the season to go, but the early returns have been as advertised and then some for what seemed to be the Jets’ most improved unit of the 2026 offseason.
