It is trade deadline day in the NFL. The Jets and the other 31 teams have until 4:00 pm Eastern today to strike deals. There are plenty of rumors about players from the 1-7 Jets leaving town.
I’m going to group these players based on how aggressively I think the Jets should be looking to move them.
To the Highest Bidder
Quincy Williams: Quincy Williams is the one player I think the Jets should be actively looking to move before the deadline. He is in the final year of his contract and unlikely to return next season. The
team should trade him and receive some sort of compensation rather than let him leave for nothing.
Could the Jets work out a new deal? I suppose, but there are a lot of things working against it. Quincy is turning 30 next year. On the field this year, he has battled injuries, and the quality of his play has regressed.
Would I be shocked to see Quincy find his top form against if he got healthy on a contender? No, but at this point I don’t see him as part of the Jets future.
It Depends
Breece Hall: I think so much time is spent discussing what Breece Hall isn’t that it’s easy to lose track of what he is. Will Breece ever a the top five back who can carry an offense on his shoulders the way it seemed early in his rookie season? Probably not, but he’s a quality player. I’m not sure the Jets have ever used him properly. Instead of being a do it all back, I view him as a high end rotational player best used on outside runs and manufactured touches in space. That has plenty of value.
I don’t think the Jets are in much of a position to send good skill players out the door, especially since it’s likely they will ignore my advice and take a quarterback high in next year’s NFL Draft.
There are some unknowns with Hall, however. What are his contract demands? Are they reasonable? Does he even want to stay after experiencing four years of losing? If the answer to any of these questions is no, the Jets should deal him to get something in return.
Additionally if some contender out there viewed Hall as the final piece of a championship puzzle and offered the Jets a Christian McCaffrey type return, the Jets should take it.
If all things are equal, though, my inclination would be to try and work out a long-term deal with Breece.
Will McDonald: Normally my inclination with a struggling young player who has shown flashes would be to work things out rather than sell. I’m pretty alarmed with McDonald’s 2025 play, though. Anybody who watched McDonald through 2024 knows that his 10.5 sack stat line didn’t really hold up to scrutiny. There were a number of right place, right time moments. Still, McDonald had a robust pressure rate, which suggested he could be a quality pass rusher.
The issue with McDonald’s game has always been his run defense. He’s too easy to wash out on the edge.
McDonald put on bulk this offseason in an attempt to be a better run defender. It hasn’t worked. More troubling, his pass rushing production has also fallen. McDonald has only 3 sacks through 8 games, and his pressure rate has dropped by around one-third.
Has adding the extra bulk robbed him of explosiveness as a rusher, or perhaps was last year’s high pressure rate a mirage?
The most generous interpretation for McDonald would be the former. If it’s true, it still makes him a limited player. If it’s the latter, he’s really not going to be much of an impact guy going forward.
I’m not saying I’d just give McDonald away, but there are some real red flags. If I was offered something like a third round pick, I think I would take that over rolling the dice that McDonald will sort things out.
You’re Really Going to Have to Make an Offer I Can’t Refuse
Jermaine Johnson: There have been some rumors that the Jets are open to dealing Johnson for a second round pick. That strikes me as a mistake if true. Johnson might not be a star, but he’s a darned good player at an important position. I know you can get into trouble by reading too much into this stuff, but there has been a genuine difference in the quality of the defense when he’s been on the field versus when he’s been off it. That’s no surprise. Jermaine is an edge rusher who both plays the run effectively and can get after the quarterback. It’s not likely the Jets could even replace Jermaine’s value with a second round pick. The price should be much higher, and I would not be actively shopping him.
Quinnen Williams: Despite the fast he’s approaching 30, I’m not a fan of trading Quinnen Williams. I know the Jets are rebuilding, but he can be part of the solution.
I would be genuinely surprised if Quinnen Williams was traded at the deadline. A new team would almost certainly want a contract extension in place to complete a deal. Based on a number of factors, a deal like this is far easier to pull off in the offseason than at the deadline.
If some team offered a franchise-altering package along the lines of what the Jets got for Jamal Adams, you’d have to consider it. Short of that, I wouldn’t be interested. Genuine stars don’t grow on trees, and Quinnen Williams is a genuine star.
Clickbait Rumors
Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson: I’ve seen some analysts suggesting the Jets could trade these guys. Anybody saying this shouldn’t be taken seriously as an analyst. The team just signed both players to big extensions. The team wants them here. Both players have been vocal that they want to be here. I guess if your team is desperate for help at wide receiver or cornerback, you can dream. Just don’t get your hopes up. Sauce and Garrett are staying in green and white for the foreseeable future.
