Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh getting in the right mindset during an NFL game.
The New York Jets are licking their wounds after not only missing out on a blockbuster trade but seeing said player they were chasing land with a division rival.
After a lot of commentary from media analysts and fans, finally, the Jets brass got their opportunity to speak on what could’ve been and what actually went down.
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Sharing Their Side of the Story
Gang Green swung hard and did everything they could to try and land Tyreek Hill in a blockbuster deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons their efforts fell flat.
During the NFL’s owner meetings, head coach Robert Saleh got his first chance to tell his side of the story on what transpired:
“Obviously Tyreek is a special player with a special skill set and has dynamic speed. It is very easy to get him the football and we thought it would be a really good opportunity when it was presented to us to add an elite player to our offense. Obviously, Joe Douglas was really aggressive and took a big swing but it didn’t work out, you win some and lose some, but I’m happy we tried it.”
Instead of adding a proven six-time Pro Bowl player to their roster, now Saleh will be tasked with trying to stop Hill twice a year inside the division. The former Chiefs star was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a bounty of picks and will take his talents to south beach.
General manager Joe Douglas also had his chance to speak with the media about missing out on Hill:
“The goal was to try and help Zach Wilson heading into the offseason as much as we could on both sides of the ball. This was a unique opportunity and we felt like this was a good time to be aggressive. Ultimately it didn’t work out but we feel good about our intent and we’re going to be in a lot of conversations moving forward.”
Douglas has been as tight-lipped as they come, but Adam Schefter of ESPN got a juicy leak when he tweeted out the trade that the Jets-Chiefs had agreed to:
Here is the trade the Chiefs and Jets had in place for Tyreek Hill:
🏈Chiefs would have gotten picks No. 35, 38 and 69
🏈Jets would have gotten Hill and No. 103.
In addition to that Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus provided some in-depth behind-the-scenes coverage of what transpired. He said that actually, the Jets-Chiefs “worked out a trade for Hill first”, once that happened Rosenhaus then shopped that around the league to get other teams interested which ultimately resulted in the Dolphins swooping in.
It seemed a little shady and raised some eyebrows and Douglas was also asked about how all of that unfolded:
“Working with Brett Veach in Kansas City and Drew was great because there was full transparency on both sides. We knew that it was going to be an uphill battle but we wanted to make a really strong offer to try and convince the player and the agent that this was a great place to be. There was full transparency in the process.”
What Does It All Mean?
In the aftermath of missing out on Hill, the Jets staff commented on what is next for them.
Saleh refused to call the wide receiver position a “priority” for Gang Green this offseason, despite doing a ton of homework on several big-time trades in Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper, Robert Woods, and the aforementioned Hill.
Although Douglas was more willing to talk during his open availability with the media. He called the wide receiver spot a “premium position”, which is noteworthy since he has been raised on the Baltimore Ravens’ ideologies of the offensive line, EDGE rusher, and quarterback.
Very interesting from #Jets GM Joe Douglas calling the WR spot a ‘premium position’ (Robert Saleh yesterday refused to call it a priority for NYJ) + also revealed once WR market got crazy in FA, they pivoted to double dipping in TE market: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight #NFL
If you’re wondering what is next, don’t buy into the Jets giving up and looking towards the 2022 NFL draft. Rich Cimini of ESPN joined The Michael Kay Show and said, “I wouldn’t rule out the Jets trying to make another big splash for a wide receiver. I think that was the takeaway from the NFL’s owners’ meetings.”
“I would not rule out before the #NFLDraft, the #Jets trying to make another big splash [trade] for a wide receiver. I think that was the takeaway from the #NFL‘s owners meetings.” – @RichCimini on @TMKSESPN. #TakeFlight
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