On Wednesday, the New York Jets traded Irvin Charles to the Seattle Seahawks for a conditional seventh-round pick.
After four seasons in Florham Park, the veteran wide receiver and special teamer has been dealt by the only NFL team he’s ever known. Based on his social media, though, it does not seem like the 29-year-old is too broken up about the news.
Taking to his Instagram story, Charles shared the news of the trade with the two-word caption, “outta there”.
Charles signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent out of D-II Indiana (PA) in 2022. He played 25 games with New York from 2023 to 2024 until suffering a torn ACL late in the 2024 campaign, which sidelined him for all of 2025.
The New Jersey native established himself as a productive special teams player, racking up 14 tackles and a blocked punt. However, he played a minimal role on offense, logging two targets and zero receptions on 53 offensive snaps.
Without Charles, the Jets still had a dominant year on special teams in 2025, allowing the second-fewest yards per punt return (6.3) in the NFL. They had the league’s highest-rated special teams unit according to the DVOA metric, and the No. 1 punt unit.
Many impressive special teamers emerged for New York after Charles’ injury, including Qwan’tez Stiggers and Arian Smith in the gunner spots. Smith, a 2025 fourth-round pick, was recently praised by special teams coordinator Chris Banjo for his abilities in that phase.
It seemed that the Jets deemed Charles expendable. From Charles’ perspective, it’s understandable that he is frustrated about being treated this way by the team that brought him into the league, especially coming off a serious injury.
Business is business, though. The Jets created an opportunity to receive a draft pick for a player they were likely going to cut, while Charles will get a fresh start with the reigning Super Bowl champions.
