The New York Jets have been widely rumored to be selecting either Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, so when the club canceled a top-30 meeting last week with Bailey it led to more speculation that Reese would be the pick.
Jets general manager Darren Mougey confirmed on Tuesday that the team canceled its meeting with Bailey but warned about speculating what that meant.
“We had good touch points with (Bailey) at the Combine,” Mougey told reporters. “We went to his pro day, had a good dinner with him. We were just kinda juggling our 30 (visits) and how to use them.
“I wouldn’t look too much into a cancellation because there were other ones we may have changed as well.”
As Mougey further pointed out, teams are not required to bring in players on top-30 visits before drafting them, especially after having met with Bailey previously. Nearly every team picking in the top three overall in recent years has brought in the player they eventually would draft for a top-30 visit, but not doing so wouldn’t be unprecedented.
The timing of the cancellation is what drew some attention, as the report that the Jets wouldn’t bring Bailey in came just prior to the end of prospects’ window for pre-draft visits. But Mougey never confirmed when Bailey’s meeting was supposed to take place.
The Jets will pick second and 16th overall in Thursday’s first round. They are slated to kick off Day 2 of the NFL Draft with the 33rd-overall selection.
Reese appears to be the odds-on favorite to be the Jets’ selection at No. 2, but Mougey did his best on Monday to suggest that Bailey remains a possibility.
Leave a Reply