The New York Jets were the talk of the football world on Tuesday.
Following a 1-7 start, the Jets shipped off two of their best players for three first-round picks, a second-rounder, and two recent early-round draft selections.
New York traded All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-rounders and wide receiver AD Mitchell. A couple of hours later, the organization shipped off All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2027 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, and fellow tackle Mazi Smith.
Williams’ time in New York always seemed strained over the last calendar year. The veteran tackle wasn’t thrilled about the possibility of a rebuild before the season began and made his feelings known.
Gardner was different, though.
Regardless of what decisions the team made in the offseason, the former fourth overall pick stood behind the team. It’s why he agreed with the organization on a four-year, $120.4 million extension in the offseason.
Months later, though, the Jets have shipped him to a contending AFC team — leaving first-year general manager Darren Mougey to explain why.
Mougey explains blockbuster trades
It is incredibly rare for an organization to gift a player a long-term extension, openly state how important he is to the franchise, and then trade him in the span of five months.
That’s what the Jets did with Gardner, though.
While they weren’t exactly dangling the All-Pro for other organizations, the Colts came in with the “Godfather” offer they couldn’t turn down.
“Indianapolis kept getting richer and richer with their value, and eventually it was too good to pass up,” Mougey told reporters following the deadline on Tuesday.
Two first-round picks and a starting-caliber receiver are a significantly better package than the team acquired when it traded All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis back in 2012. That season, the Jets added an extra first-round selection and a conditional fourth-rounder the following year.
The package yielded by Gardner emphasizes how high his value was on the open market, showing that the Jets were not serious about moving him until they received the kind of offer that organizations dream of.
“You never know how the future is going to unfold, and we always wanted to be in a position to potentially trade these contracts … [in] case that you get into a situation where the value you think is just too good to pass up,” Mougey said. “And that happened to be the case here.”
New York was able to accumulate as much talent as it did for Gardner thanks to agreeing to an extension for the youngster before the season began. Gardner’s four-year extension allowed the Colts to guarantee that the veteran corner would be a part of their long-term future.
Money aside, the Jets still gave away a 25-year-old star for the unknowns that come with draft picks.
But while the trade of Quinnen Williams quickly followed, the Jets aren’t necessarily full of despair as they prepare for the remaining nine games of the 2025 season.
Where Jets go from here
One would think that at 1-7, and having just shipped away their best players for first-round picks, the Jets would be in the tanking business for the rest of the 2025 season.
Mougey made it clear on Tuesday that wasn’t going to be the case.
“The goal is always to win,” Mougey said. “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 writing is on the wall, though. New York may not have traded other quality starters like Breece Hall or Jermaine Johnson, but shipping away Gardner and Williams is as clear a sign as any that the team is headed for a rebuild — one that has them starting over at key positions of value.
Having five first-round selections in the next two drafts is certainly helpful. But the stunning trades of Gardner and Williams will follow the organization until those picks are made.
