The New York Jets are no stranger to trade rumors. As a team that is routinely out of the playoff hunt before Halloween, their entire brand is built around off-field hoopla. Perhaps no fanbase has spent more time on roster-construction hypotheticals over the last 15 years.
When your organization is on the verge of blowing everything up on a near-annual basis, it is bound to be included in some goofy rumors every once in a while. The Jets have been tossed into their fair share of ridiculous proposals.
The latest unsubstantiated rumor, though, takes the cake.
If you’re proposing this trade, stop it. Get some help.
A quick Google search of “Garrett Wilson” brings up a litany of articles breaking down potential trade destinations for the New York Jets’ star wide receiver. To be clear, these rumors do not stem from any actual reports; they are mere speculation from non-Jets writers and fans who, somehow, think Wilson is on the trade block.
That rumble you just felt was me, facepalming myself so hard that it caused a seismic reaction across the Eastern Seaboard.
My people: The Jets are not trading Garrett Wilson. Not to the Chiefs, not to the 49ers, not for a first-rounder, not for two first-rounders, and not for three first-rounders. (Okay, if we get to four, perhaps a conversation begins.)
Wilson is the best player on the New York Jets. Full-stop. There’s no debate.
Why would a rebuilding team trade its best player?
“To recoup draft capital,” answers the casual fans and writers who propose such preposterous ideas for attention. To that I respond, “Why would a rebuilding team with three first-round picks in 2027 trade its best player?”
The Jets are already overflowing with draft capital. They made three first-round picks in 2026 and are poised to make three more in 2027, with each of those picks currently projected to land in the top 12. One of them even has No. 1 pick potential.
This team has absolutely zero need for more draft capital. They need to keep the talent they have and fill out the rest of the roster with the picks and cap space they will have available to use in 2027.
There is essentially no logical reason for the Jets to trade Wilson. They would open a gigantic, WR1-sized hole, all just to get a first-round pick that will probably land in the late-20s or high-30s and pray that said low first-rounder will yield someone close to Garrett Wilson.
“But he yelled at Geno Smith on the sideline! He wants out! I saw it on Instagram from @engagementfarmer1043!“
Smith is the best quarterback Wilson has played with in his NFL career. One sideline interaction captured by the cameras means nothing; it’s actually a common occurrence for Wilson, who has been known for his intensity since he entered the league in 2022. Wilson and Smith both immediately and unequivocally squashed the drama after the game.
With Smith throwing him the ball, Wilson is posting career-highs in success rate (54.9%), catch rate (72.5%), yards per target (8.7), and passer rating when targeted (118.4), with the latter beating his previous career high by 21 points. I guarantee you that this man is more than happy with his quarterback situation after what he’s been through.
Surely, Wilson must be frustrated about his fluctuating target total; the viral clip in question occurred during a loss to the previously winless Miami Dolphins in which Wilson was targeted three times. It’s his third game out of the last four in which he received six or fewer targets.
A quick glimpse at the film, though, shows that Wilson has been demanding a plethora of bracket coverages from opponents, making it challenging for Smith to frequently get Wilson the ball without forcing dangerous throws. Resultingly, other Jets players have received favorable one-on-one matchups, and Smith has taken advantage of those.
Against Miami, rookie wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Mason Taylor snagged five grabs for 62 yards and two touchdowns. A good chunk of those numbers can be credited to Wilson; that’s impact on the football game, even if Wilson isn’t touching the ball.
Outside of a bone-headed interception, Smith was excellent against the Dolphins, completing 23 of 30 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns (125.3 passer rating). Wilson may not have accounted for many of those yards individually, but the team’s overall passing output was strong, and the domino effect of how teams guard Wilson was a big part of how the Jets achieved those results.
Smith enters Week 8 with the league’s seventh-best passer rating (105.2). Yeah, I think Wilson will gladly take that after years of Zach Wilson and Justin Fields, plus one year of a checkdown-spamming Aaron Rodgers.
Wilson does not want out, and the Jets do not want him out. There is no drama here, unless you only follow the Jets through the viral “let’s laugh at the Jets together” clip that makes the weekly rounds on your Instagram feed.
It only takes three seconds to understand why the Jets will not be taking any calls on Wilson, but that’s 1.3 seconds longer than the average fan’s attention span nowadays, so perhaps that’s asking for too much.
