by Josh Nadel
In July of this year, the New York Jets signed star cornerback Sauce Gardner to a four-year extension. New Head Coach Aaron Glenn was thrilled, calling him a “foundational” player. A little over three months later, Gardner is an Indianapolis Colt, and the Jets are entering another rebuild. In case their 2-7 record didn’t make it clear enough that a rebuild was impending, their recent trades of their two best defensive players, Gardner to Indianapolis, and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams to Dallas, cemented the notion.
It would have been easy for the Jets to continue to flounder with this core, around the five or six-win mark, for another few years before Aaron Glenn and his personally chosen General Manager Darren Mougey would inevitably be let go, leaving a messy cap sheet, aging and ineffective star players, and limited assets to attract yet another new regime. Instead, the current Jets brain trust took a gamble: yes, trading two All-Pros certainly comes with some risk, and may be painful for fans to digest in the short term. However, they have, without question, raised the ceiling on their tenure by a considerable margin.
As much as Glenn promised the media since his hiring that the team would be competing to win this season, to most outside observers, it was obvious this would be a rocky season for the franchise. After the Aaron Rodgers era came to a close, the team was left low on draft picks, cap space and promising young players following the departure of many talented (albeit underperforming) veterans. Players from their brief win-now era that are no longer on the roster included Rodgers, Davante Adams, DJ Reed, CJ Mosley and Morgan Moses, amongst others, leading to ramifications from void years to bring in the vets, on top of the draft pick cost they paid to acquire many of them.
This offseason, the team really didn’t make many moves, choosing to stay away from the infamous New York tabloid headlines. They made their promising draft picks, they signed some middle-of-the-pack starters, but they didn’t make many big investments; arguably, their biggest improvement was parting ways with players whose departure could be considered addition by subtraction.
Anyone who believed this team was a true playoff contender, trotting out the ever-disappointing free agent signee Justin Fields (on his third team in three years) as their unquestioned, day one starting quarterback amidst an incredibly top-heavy roster, was bound to be disappointed. However, it was surely fair to hope they would be more competitive under the new regime than they looked in their dreadful 0-7 start to the season.
After all, it was just four years ago that the “core four” – cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson, edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, and running back Breece Hall – were selected in the first two rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft, and showed such promise that Aaron Rodgers demanded a trade to Gang Green to help lead them to a brighter future the next year. The roster had some other key pieces, including the All-Pro Williams brothers on the defensive side of the ball and a young, promising offensive line. After all, part of the appeal of the Jets’ job openings this winter is that they weren’t that far away. Yet, a 1-7 record at the trade deadline highlighted their lack of talent up and down the roster, and changes were inevitable. How big remained to be seen.
At about 12:40 PM EST on Tuesday, November 4th, Gardner tweeted, “New York it’s been real.” About ten minutes later, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that he and his new contract extension were being traded to the Colts in exchange for their next two first-round selections and second-year receiver Adonai Mitchell. About an hour later, he added that Williams was heading to the Cowboys, adding another second-rounder in 2026, and another first-rounder in 2027 to the Jets’ ever-growing draft pick chest.
These moves were met with shock from the football world and mixed reactions from the Jets fanbase, as to be expected when trading away talented players. Ultimately, these moves allow the Jets to finally move fully forward from the Rodgers era and rebuild a team without a true identity. This regime determined these players weren’t good enough to win given the way the team was constructed as of now, and was able to find great value to build a brighter tomorrow. Most importantly, these moves help give the Jets a chance to find a solution at quarterback, something Jets fans have been waiting for since Joe Namath.
Glenn and Mougey self-evaluated and realized they were far away from building the team they envisioned. That’s a hard realization, but a critical first step as they work towards a brighter future. They were able to receive a haul of draft picks and can now mold the team as they please. The keys to sustained success in the NFL are hitting on draft choices and having a franchise quarterback. Mougey and Glenn must do better than their predecessors in this regard to right the ship and break the longest playoff drought across all four major North American sports leagues.
Trading two fan favorite players for lottery tickets years down the line is a decision that will define the next five or so years of this franchise. Skeptics say this downtrodden franchise is even more devoid of talent than it was at 1-7. Believers say they weren’t winning with those players anyway, so an open cap sheet and eight picks over the next two years’ first two rounds sound incredibly effective to fill that talent void
I guess that makes me a believer.
The remainder of this season will be messy. Parts of next might be too. But Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn are trying to build this thing their way. Whether they are able to do so successfully remains to be seen.
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