The Trade Deadline Primer

Edition #731

Good morning! ☕

I’m not sure the shock of this weekend has worn off yet. Apparently before yesterday, teams who had scored 20+ points, not turned the ball over and held their opponents to under 250 total yards were 750-0 since records began. The Jets wanting to make some history this season decided to make it 750-1. It takes real levels of incompetence to achieve some of the records the Jets have set this year. If it wasn’t so depressing it would be pretty funny.

Today we’re going to look at the trade deadline. It’s likely the Jets will be sellers once they fall to the Texans on TNF. When you’re sitting at 2-7, your only choice is to recoup anything you can in a lost season. So who could potentially be on the move?

• Nobody has more receptions than Garrett Wilson this season (51) and only three receivers have more yards than him (573).

• The Jets burned three timeouts in the first quarter and this is what Aaron Rodgers had to say about it: "I'm not exactly sure," QB Aaron Rodgers said of the issue. "On one of them, we were lagging out of the huddle, one I was trying to get the protection right. One I felt like we could have gotten off, but it was fine to take [the timeout] there. Yeah, our operation was a little slow at times."

• The Jets then took a delay of game penalty on the two point conversion - "We had a shift and a motion and by the time it came down to it, the defense they were playing wasn't good for the play that was called. I figured let's just move it back to the 7, not that much of a difference. I liked the play that we called, but they brought zero pressure. I guessed wrong, they guessed right."

• If only there was a Super Bowl for practice sessions the Jets would have a dynasty. According to Quinnen Williams the Jets had a great week before the New England game: "Just feel like we had a great week of preparation, great mindset, great execution this week," Williams said. "And to come out and to fall short on the execution in the last drive, especially on the defense, it was super disappointing because we did have a great preparation, a great mindset and great energy this week. We just need to execute late and we have failed to that the last couple of weeks."

• Williams talked about the urgency to win now. Technically the Jets have not been eliminated from the playoff picture, realistically they’d need to win out to make it. With the team at 2-6 and having just come off a loss to a 1-6 team playing their backup QB, I can’t see that happening. "I can feel there is a level of urgency with this team that the winning needs to start right now," Williams said. "We got to execute right now. We got to do the things we want to do right now to get to where we want to go to. We have to hammer down right now, on the plane, on the way to the plane, leaving the locker room, right now man, so get the things corrected and to move forward."

• Rex Ryan hasn’t coached in the NFL since leaving Buffalo in 2016, but there is a good portion of the fanbase who want him back in NY, I’m not one of them. But Rex was asked about that possibility and on the DiPietro & Rothenberg show on ESPN he was asked what he’d do if he got the call. “Oh I’d do it in a second, I’d do it in a second because I am a New York Jet. I absolutely would. But I’m not here to politic and it seems like it because I tell the damn truth. And I speak as a fan of this football team and this community and that’s why it makes sense. So we’ll see, I hope I get an opportunity to interview for it, that’s absolutely a given, I hope I get that opportunity.”

• Morgan Moses is looking forward to the short week - “I think guys are looking forward to a short week, and short week to get this taste out our mouth and go out there and compete with the Texans” - The Jets have done absolutely nothing this year that leads me to believe they can beat the Texans.

• D. J. Reed is one of the best Jets IMO, that guy always shows up, always plays hard, always performs. Unfortunately, he’s also a free agent after this season. "I know the Jets fans," he said. "I know, man, I know this season is probably crazy watching this because I know, like the talent of this team, like it doesn't make sense. So, I know that's how the fans feel, most certainly I know that they're probably flabbergasted. You know, my mindset and my perspective on life is to finish whatever I started. And you know, right now, we're 2 and 6, which is horrible, it's horrible, but my mindset is we could still win out. That's my mindset, which, you know might sound crazy to a lot of people, but that's how I approach it. I feel like we can still win out, because we have the team to do it. So does everybody feel like that? I don't know, but that's how I feel. I still think it's possible. I still think, obviously, we can't lose, but I still think it's possible to make this right. And it just starts with winning this Thursday night game."

• What's wrong with the Jets? Nobody knows what they're supposed to be doing

Nearly everyone thought the Jets would be buyers at the trade deadline this year and when they brought in Davante Adams that seemed to be the case.

Unfortunately the Jets are 0-2 since that trade, which means they’re 2-6 with their season on life support. Even the most optimistic of fans can’t expect this team to win 8 more games to give them a shot at the playoffs.

What does that mean? Well it means it’s start to stop buying and start selling.

In the same boat as the Jets, the Patriots traded OLB Josh Uche to the Chiefs yesterday. Oh how the rich get richer.

You don’t chase a loss. Which means the Jets need to do what they can to save their season, not by winning games but by trading short-term assets for long-term assets.

The Jets have a number of players on one year deals, which make them ideal for trades. Although few teams are going to be looking at the Jets and thinking, yeah we want some of their players.

I thought about including Sauce Gardner on this list because frankly his regression is startling and I don’t have a lot of time for any player who is incapable of making the simplest of tackles. When you don’t tackle and you start to give up big completions on 4th quarter drives, your value plummets. I think Sauce is a talented guy, but somewhere between last season and this season his focus has lapsed. Maybe it was all the streaming hangouts, maybe it was all the golf, but maybe this is the kick up the backside that he needs. He wanted to be the best corner in football and I'd argue that as an all around corner he's not top 15.