Getty A member of the New York Jets defense trying to make a tackle during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The New York Jets almost made even more headlines this offseason if you’re to believe the latest rumors on social media.
In the middle of some random Twitter discourse last week, cornerback Sauce Gardner was hosting a Twitter Space that featured multiple NFL players.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared some juicy intel from that conversation that he believes “flew under the radar.”
“At one point Chauncey [Gardner-Johnson] and Sauce alluded to, which kind of flew under the radar I thought, alluded to how they thought Chauncey was close to signing with the Jets at one point,” Rosenblatt explained on “The Can’t Wait Podcast” on Thursday July 13.
“I don’t know if I heard it correctly but it sounded like Chauncey was also trying to get Darius Slay because there was a point where Darius was going to get cut by the [Philadelphia] Eagles then he returned. Where he was like going to try and get Darius to go with him to the Jets. I never heard anything about the Jets being like seriously interested in trying to get Chauncey necessarily. He winded up signing a pretty below-market deal with the [Detroit] Lions I believe and ultimately the Jets went with Chuck Clark and Adrian Amos.”
Lost in the sauce: @ZackBlatt said at one point during a @TwitterSpaces Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) & Sauce Gardner (@iamSauceGardner) alluded to how they thought CJ was ‘close to signing w/ the #Jets’ this offseason 👀 Zack also thought he heard CJ say he was trying to…
Sorting Through the Jets-Eagles Rumors
Gardner-Johnson entered free agency this offseason coming off of a career year with the Eagles. He recorded six interceptions, eight pass deflections, and made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
CJ ended up signing a one-year deal for $6.5 million with the Lions on March 20.
Prior to agreeing to that contract, he was nearly recruited to New York.
“DJ [Reeed] will even tell y’all, we were trying to get CJ [Gardner-Johnson] to become a Jet,” Sauce revealed on the July 11 Twitter Space. “Were we or were we not trying to get CJ? We wanted him to be a Jet!”
Reed who was also on the Twitter Space responded, “We definitely did.”
A little later in the conversation Sauce said, “He [CJ] was about to be a Jet.”
Eagles star cornerback Darius Slay, a former teammate of CJ, was also on the Twitter Space and emphatically said, “he told me he was coming to the Jets.”
Gardner-Johnson confirmed that he was “recruited to be a Jet” on the same Twitter space. Although he almost didn’t come alone.
Philadelphia was set to release Slay in the middle of March after failing to find a trade partner.
After the rumors of his impending release, Slay sent out a message on Twitter, “Nothing but love Philly!! Lets see where we heading next..”
Nothing but love Philly!! Lets see where we heading next..
According to Gardner-Johnson, Slay said, “Yes I [heard] Slay [say] come be a Jet. That didn’t work out.”
Seemingly indicating that the two had previously discussed linking up and heading to New York.
Long story short, there was a chance that Gardner-Johnson and Slay would leave the Eagles and sign with the Jets this offseason. Although that never came to fruition.
CGJ went to the Lions and Philadelphia was able to figure things out with Slay to keep him with the Eagles.
“A day after it appeared the cornerback could be departing, Slay and the Eagles agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal through 2025 with $23 million guaranteed at signing,” Grant Gordon of NFL.com said.
A Pressing Question Remains for the Jets
It’s hard to figure out how Slay would’ve fit into the Jets’ plans at the cornerback position.
Slay’s resume speaks for itself as a five-time Pro Bowler at 32 years of age. However, the top three corners on the Jets’ depth chart are among the best in the league (Sauce, Reed, and Michael Carter II).
Would Slay have signed on to be a third or fourth corner on the Jets? Maybe for a chance at a Super Bowl ring that has alluded him thus far during his 11-year career to date.
It’s not very difficult to project how CGJ would have fit into this secondary.
The 25-year-old has proven to be a ball-hawking stud that can take the ball away. He led the league in interceptions in 2022 with six.
Gang Green struggled with creating turnovers (fourth fewest in the NFL). CGJ on the other hand is one of the best in the NFL in that department.
In four seasons he has intercepted 11 passes and recorded 36 pass deflections.
With him in Detroit, the Jets are scrambling for answers at the free safety position. Rivka Boord of Jets X-Factor called it the “single murkiest question” left for the Jets this offseason.
Jordan Whitehead? Adrian Amos? Tony Adams?
The Jets have more questions than answers ahead of training camp.