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.)
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.
Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.
Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.
Czuba did not speak during the sentencing. His attorney, George Lenard, didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The boy's great-uncle, Mohmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.
Yousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.
The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.
“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
Yousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn’t understand what “fake news” Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.
“Some people are bringing this war to this country,” Yousef said. “We cannot do that. We can’t bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.”
Odai Al Fayoumi, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Will County Prosecutor Christopher Koch exits the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Joseph Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
FILE - Wadee Alfayoumi's father, Oday Al Fayoume, seated right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadee at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
