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Jets coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey haven’t wasted any time putting their mark on the team. Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline will be remembered as one of the most important and impactful in the team’s history after they traded two of their best players in cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. So what does it mean and what’s next? Here’s 11 things we can’t stop thinking about on the day after. 1. Winning the day There’s bound to be some mixed feelings within the fan base when a team trades away two of its best players. But as they ponder their new reality, Jets fans don’t have to question the value they got in return for Gardner and Williams. The return on both deals was an undisputed home run. A quick recap: The Colts gave the Jets a 2026 and 2027 first-round pick, and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (a 2024 second-round pick) in exchange for Gardner. And the Cowboys sent the Jets a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith (a 2023 first-round pick) in exchange for Williams. The Athletic gave the Jets an ‘A’ grade for both deals. ESPN deemed the Jets worthy of an ‘A’ for both deals as well (and gave the Cowboys an ‘F’ and the Colts a ‘D’). The bottom line: most experts thought that the Jets got the absolute maximum possible for Gardner and Williams – especially considering both players were not currently performing at the top levels they reached earlier in their respective careers. And that is a win for the Jets. 2. Give them credit … Trading Williams felt inevitable given his dissatisfaction with the constant losing and the possibility that he would ask for a new contract, perhaps as soon as this offseason – there’s no guaranteed money left on this contract after 2026. So it’s hard to call it a bold move because it was so obviously the right thing to do. But the Gardner trade was both unexpected and risky, especially considering the Jets just signed him to an extension that made him the NFL’s highest paid corner a few months ago. It would have been easier and safer to not seriously engage with talks for Gardner, especially with the Jets at 1-7 and try to build around him moving forward. Instead, they took a risk, one that could have quickly gotten embarrassing had word of serious trade talks got out before a deal was done. This at least shows that Mougey and Glenn operate with an open mind and without concern for the potential criticism that they’d face for changing course from their initial plan so quickly. And that’s only going to help as they use this arsenal of draft capital to reshape the roster in the coming months and years. 3. But there’s a concerning catch The Jets have a chance to change everything over the next two drafts after securing a ridiculous haul Tuesday: they have two first-round picks and two second-rounders in 2026, and three first-rounders in 2027. But it only matters if they hit on the draft picks, and even that might not be good enough. Consider this: The Jets seemingly had a franchise changing draft in 2022, when they hit on their first four picks: Gardner (No. 4 overall), receiver Garrett Wilson (No. 10 overall), edge rusher Jermaine Johnson (No. 26 overall) in the first round, and Breece Hall (No. 36 overall) early in the second round. But that best case scenario ended up getting them zero winning seasons and zero playoff appearances. Let’s also not forget that they just traded away two All-Pros under the age of 28. Just replacing that talent is not going to be easy in the relative crapshoot of the NFL Draft. And even if they are able to land two All-Pro caliber players with the four premium draft picks they received for Williams and Gardner, replacing that talent won’t be enough. Because as we just learned, you can hit on a bunch of premium draft picks but if you don’t hit on the a quarterback it might not matter at all. And a few years from now, when we look back on this deal, that’s almost certainly the lens through which it will be remembered and evaluated. 4. Why this ‘tear-down’ could be different Mougey took issue with the notion that the Jets are once again rebuilding when he addressed the media Tuesday night. “I wouldn’t call it a tear-down,” Mougey said. So what would you call trading away two of your best and most popular players on the same day, in a move that clearly makes the team less capable of winning than it was 24 hours ago? That’s a rhetorical question, because of course this is a tear-down, or a rebuild, or however you want to say enduring some pain today for a better tomorrow. But here’s the difference between this tear-down and the Jets’ most recent rebuilding efforts (in 2021-22 and 2018-19): they have more talent on the roster and more capital, flexibility to add talent than in either case. The Jets’ offensive line remains far more stable than it has been at any point in the last decade, and they have two potential anchors to build around at tackle in first-round rookie Armand Membou and 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu. They have a clear No. 1 receiver in Wilson under contract through 2030. And they have two proven edge rushers under team control for multiple seasons in Johnson and 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald. So it doesn’t have to be a long, painful tear-down if they add the right pieces. 5. In position to strike The Jets not only picked up a bunch of draft capital with their blockbuster trades, but they cleared a considerable amount of cap space and now find themselves with $94 million to spend in 2026, the fourth-most of any NFL team. Which is remarkable considering they’re carrying in $74 million in dead cap as they pay off the final year of the tab on the failed Aaron Rodgers experiment, C.J. Mosley’s restructure and now an additional $21 million in dead cap on Gardner and Williams’ contracts. And they’ll have even more to spend in 2027 when all of that dead money is off the books: they’re projected to have the most cap space right now. It’s never good to rely on free agency to remake the roster, as the Jets have learned. But it doesn’t hurt having more chances to try and land the right pieces. And the Jets will certainly get those chances in the next two offseasons. 6. The other big concern But what about he guys who are left behind? Glenn pitched the public and this team on contending in 2025. And despite being 1-7 and trading away two key players, Mougey insisted that the priority is winning now. But how do the guys in the locker room feel about it? We’ll learn more Wednesday when the Jets reassemble after the bye and are available to the media for the first time since the trades. But Johnson already made it clear on social media that he is bought in on what his team is doing. “I’d be lying if I said I was happy my brothers are gone because I’m not, I’m sick,” Johnson wrote on X. “But, I believe strongly in the organization, staff and my other brothers in the locker room. I said when I got drafted I wanted to be the reason or part of the reason this thing gets changed for the better and that’s going to continue to be my outlook. I love this team and this fan base and y’all will continue to get my all, my absolute best on and off the field. Let’s look onward and upward because better things are coming and I give my word on that. Go Jets always.” But Hall seemed less thrilled by the situation, posting and deleting that he was happy for his teammates but “sick” about them being traded amid rumors that he wanted out himself. And Wilson, who has not hidden his frustration with the team’s losing ways in his three-plus seasons, didn’t say anything at all on social media. 7. Unlikely building block? Here’s a crazy but totally realistic possibility… Hall, the player who was constantly rumored to be on his way out of Florham Park, might find himself as a long-term building block. Barring a miracle he’s not going to get a top-tier running back contract offer when he hits free agency in the spring. And the Jets will be in a position to pay him potentially more than any other team. And clearly they value him. So while it seems impossible now, especially with Hall clearly not thrilled about recent developments, things can change quicklu. 8. Hard to believe Less than a year ago the Jets’ secondary was its greatest strength with Gardner and cornerbacks D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II. Now all three of them are gone – Gardner and Carter via trade and Reed via free agency. And the Jets cornerback room is now one of the biggest question marks on the roster. Life comes at you fast. 9. Hidden benefit One thing we won’t have to wonder about thanks to the Gardner trade? What exactly the Jets have got in rookie cornerback Azareye’h Thomas. He’s going to get the chance to start the final eight games of the season with Gardner in Indianapolis. And while he had a rough moment in his start against the Bengals, allowing a touchdown to Tee Higgins, that was partially on the play call which offered him zero safety help. And Thomas didn’t seem to let that moment rattle him and was solid the rest of the game. This will be a chance for everyone to see what Thomas is and isn’t capable of, and perhaps an opportunity for the new coaching staff to prove that they can develop young talent if Thomas can make some strides between now and January. 10. We’re intrigued Of the new arrivals, we’re most interested in seeing how Adonai Mitchell fits in with the offense. Mitchell has the size (6-2) and speed (4.34-second 40-yard-dash) to be the perfect complement to Wilson and the deep threat they’ve been missing. But those skills have yet to translate onto the field in this first 25 career games. He’s still looking for his first touchdown and has only 32 catches for 464 yards. But Mitchell is suddenly the second-most talented receiver on the Jets’ roster without question and will be highly motivated to show what he can do. And that can’t be bad thing for the Jets’ offense. 11. Stop worrying about this It’s an annual tradition for Jets fans: getting angry when they win meaningless games in November and December because it hurts their draft stock. Well, if they win some games in the final two months of he season it will happen again. But really there’s nothing to be angry about. The Jets have enough draft capital to go up and get any quarterback they really like if necessary, so winning won’t impact that – other than making it a little more expensive to move up the board. But considering the Jets have been good at only one thing in recent years, losing close games, winning might do a whole lot more good than harm. 12. This might be totally crazy but… The problem with losing is the toll that comes with it. It can drag even the most talented and optimistic players down, like Wililams who couldn’t help but publicly vent his own frustration with the team in February (when they decided to cut Rodgers) after criticizing anyone who was even mildly critical of the team through the first five years of his career. And even Gardner was clearly bothered and baffled by the losing which became clear after the loss to Miami in September, when Gardner said that the refs were more likely to call penalties on him and the Jets because the team perennially stinks. Overcoming that frustration and “here we go again” attitude at the first sign of adversity was always going to be the biggest Glenn has to overcome as he seeks to turn this team around. And in a way it just got easier because the collective baggage and scar tissue after years of losing is suddenly lighter. It’s a huge loss of talent. And it might be more difficult for the Jets to put themselves into position to win, but there’s also a chance it might get easier to get over the finish line the next time they’re in that position. And if the Jets can start winning those games, Glenn will start winning the culture change battle he’s been waging since Day 1 on the job.
