It was just nine days ago that the New York Jets seemed like the happiest team in the NFL. They celebrated their first win of the season. Aaron Glenn reveled in his first win as a head coach. Their fans snapped out of their depression to party like it was 1999, which only feels like the last time the Jets made the playoffs.
They smiled, they cried, laughed and danced. And the joy was felt in every corner of their dysfunctional organization. Then, over the next few days, they made this big decision:
One win is enough. See you all in 2026.
So, on Tuesday afternoon, the Jets’ new regime did what, to be honest, is the only sensible thing that could be done to this organization — the one thing that the four previous regimes over the past decade and a half either didn’t have the courage or the skills to pull off. The new frontmen, Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey, pocketed their one win, cashed in their chips, and began to take a blow torch to their franchise by trading away two of their best young players: cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
And that’s probably just the beginning. Because to build a winner, Mougey and Glenn clearly understand that they first need to completely tear down their disastrous mess of a franchise.
Sauce Gardner is a two-time All-Pro, but he’s been more good than great over the past year and a half. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Honestly, why wouldn’t they? Don’t for a second underestimate the decrepit foundation they inherited when they were hired during the offseason. The Jets are about to extend the NFL’s longest playoff drought to 15 seasons. They haven’t played a playoff game since 2010 and haven’t had a home playoff game since 2002, when a good chunk of their fan base was still too young to know they’d be better off rooting for someone else.
Some of those fans are surely disappointed today. Gardner is one of the best young corners in the game, and there aren’t many defensive tackles better than Williams. And both were already signed to long-term contracts. Jerseys with their numbers littered the stands (when they’re not overrun by fans of the Jets’ opponents). Outside of receiver Garrett Wilson, they were the best and most popular players the Jets had.
But so what? When you buy a house that is cracked, leaking and stinks of raw sewage, you can’t grow attached to the gorgeous fireplace or the fancy garage door. You just tear the whole condemned thing down and start over. Then try to build the palace you really want.
And even as the wrecking ball starts to swing, Mougey and Glenn are collecting some really important building blocks. They got two first-round picks and 23-year-old receiver AD Mitchell from the Colts for Gardner. And for Williams, they got a first- and a second-round pick, plus 24-year-old defensive tackle Mazi Smith from Dallas. They now have five first-round picks in the next two drafts (two in 2026 and three in 2027), plus plenty of newly created cap room. Those are the tools to help them build their team, their way.
Now, it’s worth noting that not everyone endorses that approach. In fact, there were more than a few people in the NFL appalled that the Jets included their top-shelf items in their fire sale.
“Obviously, they had to clean up that franchise,” one scout told me after the trading deadline passed. “But you’re only supposed to throw out the trash, not the treasure.”
“You win games in this league with good players,” one GM added in a text. “How are they supposed to win when they’re trading away the only good players they have?”
Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? Williams and Gardner are good players, but the Jets haven’t won with them. Williams, the No. 3 pick of the 2019 draft, never experienced a better season than when the Jets went 7-9 when he was a rookie. Gardner joined Williams and the Jets as the fourth overall pick in 2022, and he’s yet to experience a season without double-digit losses. In three and a half seasons with those two young, defensive studs, the Jets’ overall record is a pathetic 20-39.
Obviously, it’s not their fault. But, also obviously, they haven’t moved the needle enough to drag the Jets to respectability, let alone actual success. The defense the past three seasons ranked fourth, third and third in the league. A lot of good that did, though, as the Jets finished in the bottom half of the AFC East all three times.
So, maybe it’s not so crazy for the new regime to think that if they want to win, they need better players. Or at least some different good players. Or maybe more good players. They still have to pick the right players, of course.
But it’s not like they can do much worse.
Will the Jets’ defense miss Gardner and Williams? Absolutely. As the scout said, “All these picks that they’re getting, they’re going to have to use some of them to replace the two they traded away. And the odds are strong they won’t find players nearly as good.”
Maybe. Or maybe they can use some of those first-rounders to find players who can make more of an impact. The Jets are already cruising toward the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, where they’ll have the pick of a litter that scouts once thought would be a generational quarterback class. And if they somehow fail to hold onto the top spot in that draft, they certainly have the ammunition and draft capital to move back up, if they want.
Or they can use some of those first-round picks to grab an elite receiver to pair with Wilson, or the dominant edge rusher they so desperately need. The possibilities are endless. Plus, they have the chips and financial flexibility to consider a blockbuster spring trade, too.
And more departures might be coming. It’s hard to imagine Mougey and Glenn will open the vault to keep many — or any — of the Jets’ likely free agents. That means this could be the final stretch for running back Breece Hall (who should’ve been traded at the deadline), linebacker Quincy Williams (who can’t be happy his brother was just dealt), and perhaps guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, too.
Would the 2026 Jets be stronger with all those players, especially Gardner and Williams? In a vacuum, of course they would. But Mougey and Glenn are staring into the abyss of a franchise that hasn’t played a playoff game since Rex Ryan was their coach and Mark Sanchez was their quarterback. In the following 14-plus seasons, the Jets have a combined record of 83-153 (for a winning percentage of .352). They’ve had just one winning season in that span. And barring a miracle, they’re about to suffer double-digit losses for the sixth straight season and ninth time in 10 years.
So it seems pretty obvious that the resources the Jets used on their current players could be better spent otherwise.
Barring dramatic improvement in the second half of the season from Justin Fields, the Jets will be in the market for a new QB next season. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Mougey and Glenn could still screw this up — these are the Jets, after all. And their track record isn’t inspiring. In one of their first moves this past March, they lit $30 million on fire when they brought in Justin Fields to be their quarterback. After that disaster, they have to pick the next one, and put the right cast around him. There’s no guarantee they’re capable of that.
But they are off to a smart start, though painful start, dismantling the lemon they inherited and hoping they can pick out the right parts to build a Ferrari. To be honest, they should have done more at the deadline. The fewer players they keep who carry the infection of the Jets’ history of losing, the better the future will be.
The franchise needed a purge. And they all need a fresh start next season. That’s so much smarter than trying to build with the same, old broken pieces of sadness that a string of failed regimes left behind.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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