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If the Denver Broncos are willing to cut Russell Wilson and take on $85 million in dead money, why can’t the Jets just move on from Zach Wilson, and take a $9.58 million hit?
This year, Russell Wilson will take up $53 million in Denver’s cap space, and next year, Russell Wilson will count $32 million against the team’s cap.
Sean Payton felt there were no point in putting off the inevitable, and bit the bullet, for the sake of culture and team building.
Everybody knew he didn’t want Russell Wilson around anymore after the failed experiment of them working together last season.
The Zach Wilson era is over with the Jets.
We got our first hint that it was over on December 8, 2023, when Doug Robinson of the Deseret News reported, “Sources close to the situation confirmed to the Deseret News that the Jets have told Zach Wilson he will be traded after the season. Wilson and coach Robert Saleh agreed to a mutual parting following the benching.”
That is Wilson’s hometown paper in Utah, so Robinson has great sources with the family.
And then we got another hint that it was over when Woody Johnson said at the Super Bowl, Wilson essentially didn’t exist last year:
“We need a backup quarterback,” Johnson said on the red carpet of the NFL Honors Award Ceremony in Las Vegas. “We didn’t have one last year.”
Wilson was the backup QB entering last season and had to play a lot after Aaron Rodgers was injured in the opener.
So when the owner said they didn’t have a player at the position that Wilson played last year, it stands to reason, that it’s hard to get anything in return for that player.
So why not just move on?
Why keep this thing hanging over your heads, for what, a possible seventh-round pick?
Maybe you wait a little longer to possibly get a late-round pick, but at some point, the Jets need to just move on.
And Joe Douglas might be inclined to do that, but the Jets have a much more hands-on owner than the man who hired the GM, and that man, Woody Johnson, has made it clear, they are not cutting Zach Wilson.
“If we don’t trade him, we’re gonna keep him,” Johnson said at an NFL owners meeting in Orlando on Monday, May 25.
So there you have it.
If they are not offered anything for the QB, he will be on the team, according to the owner?
How is that good for either side?
Joe Douglas said today that Zach Wilson is “an asset.”
Perhaps, but clearly not much of one at this point considering they are having a hard time trading him.
The reason there is no trade market for Wilson, isn’t related to potential, but more a perceived attitude issue and a questioned love of football.
Whether those things are true or not, I can’t tell you, because I’m not in his heart or head, but that is the perception around the league.
On March 16, 2024, The Chicago Bears traded QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick.
Wilson has a better-starting record than Fields. Wilson is 12-21 and Fields is 10-28.
So if the Bears can get a conditional sixth-round pick for Fields, why can’t the Jets get at least the same for a player, who has won more games?
Once again – perceived attitude. Fields might not be an elite processor, but he’s great raw skills (great wheels and a rocket arm), and loves football and is a tireless worker.
Wilson has great raw skills also, but the perceptions about his love of football and work ethic, fair or unfair, are killing his trade market.
So if they can’t get anything for Wilson in the next month or so, they might need to move on.
But Woody Johnson, who is very hands on, unlike his brother, doesn’t want to do that.
April 19, 2024
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