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The Jets made it clear they weren’t going to have a fire sale at the trade deadline.
And they proved that with their trade of Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-round picks.
They also got a receiver, Adanoi Mitchell in the deal.
Not sure why they keep trading for receivers. This is there second trade for a receiver in the last few days, the first acquiring John Metchie from Philadelphia for cornerback Michael Carter.
Maybe they are buying into the media-driven philosophy that they don’t have enough weapons opposite Garrett Wilson, a theory you could shoot holes in, especially with a QB now who is generally a one-read and run QB. I think the lack of weapons theory is BS. A scout told me a long time ago, “Quarterbacks make receivers, receivers don’t make quarterbacks.”
Jets need front-seven help, not receivers.
But let’s leave that debate for another day, and focus on the Jets moving on from Gardner the big news of the day.
In the Jets’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals, their first of the season, they played without Gardner, and the cornerback trio of Brandon Stephens, Jarvis Brownless and Azareye’h Thomas, faired just fine,
The only big play of note from the Bengals’ talented WR duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgns was a 44-yard TD pass to Higgins, where a safety didn’t provide the double-team assistance Thomas was expecting. This was more about the safety than Thomas.
This game shows they could function without Gardner.
Stephens has emerged as the Jets #1 cornerback, and has had a better season than Gardner.
And when it comes to cornerbacks, it’s best to defer to Aaron Glenn, who knows more about that position than most people on the planet, playing it and coaching it at a high level for a long time.
While Gardner has rare talent, Glenn has a certain template for corners he favors. He gravitates to players at that position who are super-physical, maulers at the line in press coverage, and good tacklers in run support.
While Gardner has terrific cover skills, he does not get the highest of high marks in those other categories.
One thing I’m a little perplexed by is why the Glenn regime paid Gardner mega-bucks on July 15, giving him a four-year, $120.4 million contract extension.
Since Glenn is excellent at scouting cornerbacks, couldn’t he see from the previous film that this guy might not be a good fit?
He couldn’t see from the players first three years of film he might not want to commit to him long-term, just yet.
But this probably wasn’t all a Glenn move.
You got the sense that the organization wanted to ink their two more marketable stars – Gardner and Garrett Wilson – to big deals as a mea culpa to their fans.
And once again, I don’t think Glenn would have traded Gardner, unless he got two first-round picks, which he did.
If they were low-balled in trade talks with Indy (or another suitor) for Gardner, they probably would have kept him.
But two first-round picks – that’s pretty good, and will help them fix their front seven over the next couple of years.
Also, you get the sense that all the losing with the Jets has gotten to Gardner. Being in so many post-game pressers with him after losses, sometimes I’d have a thought during these depressing proceedings for a player trying to come up with yet another way to spin another loss – “He probably needs to get out of here.”
Newer Jets like Stephens, Thomas, and Brownlee, an others, even with the losing, aren’t jaded, and could be part of a turnaround in the near future. I could be wrong, but I felt Gardner was getting jaded – all the losing was impacting his soul.
So, to me, this trade makes perfect sense for first two round picks.
As for Mitchell, if they land a full field-reader in the first round next year at QB, perhaps this throw-in will help them down the road.
But right now, the Jets really don’t need receiver help. That is fantasy football BS.
November 4, 2025
