FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey said Monday the team will exercise the fifth-year contract options for cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson.
Gardner, Wilson and Johnson are considered foundation-type players for the new-look Jets, who have a new GM in Mougey and coach in Aaron Glenn.
The three were first-round picks in 2022 and have been bright spots during a rough stretch for a franchise that has the NFL's longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons. Gardner is a two-time All-Pro selection, Wilson has more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first three seasons and Johnson was a Pro Bowl pick in 2023 before tearing his right Achilles tendon in Week 2 last year.
“We have time to make that decision, but I do anticipate those fifth-year options on those players,” Mougey said during the team's pre-draft news conference.
According to Over the Cap's projections of fifth-year options that kick in during the 2026 season, Gardner would receive $20.2 million, Wilson $16.8 million and Johnson $13.4 million — with all of those salaries guaranteed.
The deadline for NFL teams to exercise the options is May 1, and Mougey indicated the Jets are focused right now on the draft. New York has the seventh overall pick Thursday night, when the three-day draft begins.
Mougey declined to say whether he and the team are open to having talks about contract extensions for the trio.
“I'm going to get through the draft,” Mougey said. “But in terms of contracts and extensions on any players, I'll always keep that in-house. We'll keep those dealings and discussions in-house.”
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was released last month, revealed some of the conversations he had with the team during his appearance last week on “The Pat McAfee Show” and was critical of the way the Jets — particularly Glenn — handled the situation.
Rodgers, who said he is keeping both playing and retirement on the table, said he felt disrespected by Glenn during the brief but somewhat contentious meeting on Feb. 6 at the team's facility. Mougey, who was at that meeting, declined to address Rodgers' comments.
“I understand the question and I addressed that at the (NFL) combine,” Mougey said of the team's conversations with Rodgers. “Today, I just want to talk about the draft and current Jets players.”
He repeated that when he was asked if he has any regrets about that meeting with Rodgers. During the combine in Indianapolis in February, Mougey said he has “a lot of respect for Aaron Rodgers as a player and a person, first-ballot Hall of Famer," but the Jets made the decision to move forward without Rodgers and "look forward to kind of moving past that and into this next process here with free agency and the draft.”
The Jets signed Justin Fields last month as a free agent. Fields, who played in Pittsburgh last season after three years in Chicago, is set to be New York's starting quarterback this upcoming season.
“Yeah, we feel really good about Justin as our starter moving forward and believe in Justin, that we can win with Justin,” Mougey said. “He was a priority in free agency and we’re glad we got him here.”
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New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey speaks to reporters at the team's facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, on Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Dennis Waszak Jr.)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow's invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.
Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.
The daytime temperature in Kyiv, which has endured freezing temperatures for more than two weeks, was minus 12 degrees C (about 10 degrees F), with streets covered in ice and the rumble of generators heard throughout the capital.
Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages for days, although Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night's strikes caused the biggest electrical outage the city has faced so far.
More than 500 residential buildings remained without central heating Tuesday. Throughout the city, bare trees were weighed down with icicles and snow was piled up next to sidewalks.
To cope, friends and relatives gathered in those apartments that have power or hot water, at least temporarily. They charge their phones, take hot showers, or share a warm drink.
Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal per day to needy residents. He also announced that workers in the city’s water, heating and road maintenance services would receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.
Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.
On Monday, the U.S. accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in winter over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
The attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.
In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defese Ministry said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.
Ukraine’s military said its drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant designs, manufactures and tests Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.
Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
