FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey says the team recently canceling its pre-draft visit with top pass rushing prospect David Bailey isn't an indication of waning interest in the Texas Tech star.
The Jets have the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft, which begins Thursday night, and New York has been most commonly linked to selecting either Bailey or Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese to boost its defense.
Per NFL rules, teams are allowed to invite up to 30 non-local, draft-eligible players to their facilities for in-depth interviews, film studies and physical evaluations to firm up their scouting reports. Mougey confirmed reports last week that the Jets canceled their visit with Bailey.
“In regards to David, we had good touch points with him at the combine, we went to his pro day, had a good dinner with him,” Mougey said Tuesday at the team's pre-draft news conference. “We were just kind of juggling our 30 and how to use them and I wouldn't look too much into a cancellation because there were other ones we may have changed, as well.”
Mougey, entering his second season as the Jets' GM, said teams handle their top-30 visits in a variety of ways.
“Some don't even use the top-30s,” he said. "I would say, for us, when we do top-30s, every single player and case is different. Sometimes, I want this player to meet with our player engagement department. Sometimes, I want this player to meet with our sports performance. Sometimes, it's purely medical. Sometimes, it’s a recruiting process.
“Sometimes, it’s a smokescreen.”
The Jets, who have four picks among the first 44 selections, reportedly did have Reese at their facility for a top-30 visit.
With Las Vegas expected to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick, New York will have its choice of pass rushers to help a defense that ranked among the NFL's worst in several categories last season in Aaron Glenn's first year as coach. Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks late last season and replaced him this offseason with Brian Duker, but the head coach will call the plays on defense this season.
Bailey is widely considered by scouts as the more polished player between him and Reese, but Reese is projected to have a higher production ceiling.
“So, that’s a discussion we have really about every single player, whether it’s a first-round player or a seventh-round player,” Mougey said of his philosophy on weighing immediate contributions against long-range potential. “We’re in the business of projecting these guys, what their value could be. We’re talking ceilings and floors all the time with all these prospects and how they fit here and what they could be and what they could not be based on their deficiencies or their abilities.”
It’s the fourth time in franchise history that the Jets are picking second overall and first since they took quarterback Zach Wilson in 2021. Running back Blair Thomas (1990) and wide receiver Johnny “Lam” Jones (1980) were the others. With the Raiders so heavily linked to Mendoza, it has given Mougey and the Jets an opportunity to know, barring a trade, they'll likely get the player they have at the top of their list.
“It’s a little different. It’s nice, right?” Mougey said. “Because we think we know what’s going to happen at (No. 1), so we have these pool of players, and I’m like, ‘OK, let’s dive into it. We’re going to get one of these guys.’ So, it’s been good, but it hasn’t really changed the process in terms of just diving into each guy and then stacking them and doing it, but it’s kind of nice.”
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New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey speaks with reporters during a news conference at the NFL football team's facility, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Dennis Waszak Jr.)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are losing ground Tuesday as Wall Street weighs the latest round of profit reports from big companies with the lingering risks from the ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran.
UnitedHealth Group and other big companies showed they’re making even bigger profits than analysts expected. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose moderately as last-minute ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran looked uncertain.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, coming off just its second drop in 14 days, and is hovering below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 194 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:33 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.3%.
UnitedHealth helped lead the market with a jump of 8.8% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the beginning of the year than analysts expected. It also raised its forecast for profit over the full year of 2026.
That’s big because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. It’s a double-plus for investors when companies not only top earnings estimates but also forecast even better growth ahead.
Quest Diagnostics rose 4.9% after it likewise joined the fattening list of companies topping expectations for profit and revenue during the latest quarter. It also raised its forecast for profit for the full year.
They helped offset a 12% drop for Tractor Supply, whose profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of expectations.
Other signals are also indicating the U.S. economy may be doing OK despite sharp up-and-down swings for oil prices because of the war with Iran. A report on Tuesday morning showed that U.S. retailers made more money in March, the first full month of the war, than analysts expected.
Growth was even relatively stable for retail sales when not including those from gasoline stations.
“It’s become cliched to say that the economic hit will depend on the duration of the Middle East conflict, but that cliché does ring true,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.3% to $98.63 ahead of Wednesday's scheduled expiration for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Both sides remain dug in rhetorically. Trump has warned that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline, and Iran’s chief negotiator said that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed.
Much of the tension in financial markets has focused on what will happen to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that oil tankers use to exit the Persian Gulf. A long-term closure would keep crude oil pent up in the gulf and away from customers worldwide.
The price for a barrel of Brent oil has gone from roughly $70 before the war to $119 at times as worries have risen and fallen about a long-term closure for the strait.
On Wall Street, Apple fell 2.3% after Tim Cook said he’ll step down as CEO on Sept. 1 and become the iPhone maker’s executive chairman. He’s handing control over to John Ternus, a company veteran who rose through Apple's hardware engineering ranks.
Amazon rose 1.2% after Anthropic said it signed a new agreement and is committing more than $100 billion over the next 10 years to AWS technologies to train and run its Claude chatbot.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were lower in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.7% for one of the world’s biggest moves.
In the bond market, Treasury yields gained ground. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.29% from 4.26% late Monday.
Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday. He's facing a tightrope walk, as investors want to see if he would maintain the Fed's independence from political meddling. During the hearing, he pledged to fight inflation even though Trump has been pushing hard for lower interest rates. Higher inflation typically leads the Fed to raise rates, or at least keep them unchanged, rather than cut them.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Specialist James Denaro works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past the screen showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer stands near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past the screens showing the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Trader Michael Milano, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
