The New York Jets ended the 2025 season with something no team in modern NFL history had ever done before. They finished the year without recording a single interception on defense. The last team to record fewer than their four total takeaways was the 1934 St. Louis Gunners, according to Yahoo Sports, and that team only played three games as an independent club due to league membership controversies.
The Jets' secondary lost key pieces before the season. All-Pros Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner were traded away, and injuries added to the decline. Still, the final number stands in the record books, and the players know it.
"All the guys kind of taking that personally, because that's now a part of our names, you know what I mean?" cornerback Brandon Stephens said Wednesday. "And so, how do we want to rewrite the story after that?"
The Jets' answer began at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft. New York selected Texas Tech defensive end David Bailey with the second overall pick, choosing him over needs at quarterback, receiver, and secondary. The hope is that Bailey's pass rush will force more turnovers, even when he is not the one making the play himself.
Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood described exactly that kind of moment from Bailey during a playoff game against Oregon. Quarterback Dante Moore dropped back on fourth-and-2 in the third quarter. Bailey charged toward left tackle Isaiah World and closed so fast that Moore had to release the ball before Bailey could get to him. The ball went up the middle toward a tight end. Texas Tech linebacker Ben Roberts read the route and picked it off.
Bailey did not record a sack on the play. He was not credited with a quarterback hit or a takeaway. The stat sheet showed nothing next to his name. But Wood said it told the whole story.
"David Bailey about ripped him in half on that play," Wood said. "He knew it was coming and he had to get rid of the football and I think he got sped up. Even if he's not the one per se knocking the ball out or stripping it out of the quarterback's hands or whatever, he's going to cause the football to be put in harm's way. And it's going to allow the guys around him to capitalize on it when it does."
Moore is considered a projected first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, which made Bailey's performance against him stand out further. Texas Tech lost the game, held scoreless on offense, but Bailey's individual moments left a mark on coaches watching him.
The Jets rebuilt their secondary this offseason alongside the addition of Bailey. Whether that combination is enough to put any interceptions in the record book this season remains to be seen. The team opened organized team activities this week in Florham Park, N.J., with Bailey already drawing attention from coaches and teammates.
Bailey himself has deflected credit toward his teammates when asked about the Jets' turnover problems. But the organization made its priorities clear by taking him second overall, and the players left over from last year's roster are not letting the 2025 season go quietly.
