Blockbuster Trade Deadline 💥

Edition #963: Jets blow up their defense in pursuit of more balance through the draft.

Good morning ☕

Few “experts” had the Jets trading two former All-Pro’s on deadline day, but this morning we’re waking up to a different landscape after what will become known as a franchise defining deadline day.

Let me first say that it’s never nice to lose good players. Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams have 3 All Pro and 6 Pro Bowl selections between them. I wish both of them well with their respective teams and wish they could have been part of turnaround here with the Jets.

But here is the simple truth. The Jets won absolutely nothing with those players.

Since Quinnen was taken in the first round in 2019 the Jets have gone 33-75 with 0 playoff appearances. Since Sauce was drafted in 2022, the Jets have gone 20-39 with 0 playoff appearances.

We tried the young developmental QB in Zach Wilson, we tried the Super Bowl winning QB in Aaron Rodgers and we’ve tried everything in between with the likes of Trevor Siemian, Joe Flacco, Tim Boyle, Tyrod Taylor and now Justin Fields. It hasn’t worked.

Darren Mougey had this to say a couple of hours after the dust had settled: “I wouldn’t call it a tear down. The goal is always to win, look, these coaches and players work too hard every day, all day, with the goal of winning on Sunday. And that never changes because that’s what the fans deserve. That’s what the players deserve, that’s what the coaches deserve, and that never changes.”

The Jets after constantly tweaking around the edges of this premier defense have been on the outside looking in for years. Defenses help significantly, but offences win you titles in the modern NFL. The Jets are loaded with draft capital and while they don’t have a history of offensive development, that’s not on Darren Mougey who has positioned the Jets to be the best positioned team in terms of their draft capability for the next two years.

Read any report on those trades and you’ll see a consistent theme. The Jets got a great return for both of those players. Not a good return, not an OK return, a great return. Let’s take a look at these deals one by one.