With the New York Jets seemingly imploding at the seams, there has been a narrative on social media that Garrett Wilson could eventually ask for his way out.
This idea was brought to longtime NFL coach-turned-ESPN analyst Rex Ryan, and he didn’t hold back.
“Yeah, that tells me right there that you don’t know this young man. This guy is not gonna run from a fight. I think just the opposite. The little time that I spent with him, I think it’s just the opposite; this dude is going to win with the New York Jets. It’s just when. He is going to be here when this team turns; he’s going to be here,” Ryan passionately explained on “DiPietro & Rothenberg” on ESPN New York.
“I know that’s what I would do if I’m in that building. Hell no! I’ll trade a million guys before I trade him. This is the guy I want. You guys don’t think he’s competitive enough, I guess. You think he wants to leave this building. That ain’t him. To me, those are the guys that you want,” Ryan added.
It Wouldn’t Make Sense for the Jets to Hit the Eject Button
Could trading Wilson result in a blockbuster haul of picks? Probably, but when is enough, enough?
The Jets are the most armed and dangerous team in the NFL heading into the 2027 NFL draft. The Jets have three first-round picks.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini explained on the Monday, October 26 episode of the “Jets Collective” that even if you traded Wilson for multiple first-round picks, you’d eventually hit a wall.
Let’s say in this hypothetical world the Jets flipped Wilson to the Cleveland Browns for both of their 2027 first-round picks. Now the Jets would have five first-rounders. Let’s say they hit on all of them; they all work out and are good players. What do you do after three years with each of their fifth-year options?
To give you an idea of the type of money we’re talking about, Over The Cap projects what those fifth-year options will be worth. Next May, any team that had a first-round pick from the 2024 class will have to accept or decline fifth-year options for that group of players.
On the low end, that price ranges from $14.2 million to $43.7 million. That is a fully guaranteed number, and that is per player. Do the math. Multiply that number by five (the number of first-round picks the Jets would have), and that equals between $71 million and $218.5 million for five players.
You still have 48 other players that you have to employ. In other words, acquiring first-round picks sounds fun on paper, but too many of them is cost-prohibitive.
What’s More Attractive?
Five first-round picks that could be anything or three first-round picks and a 26-year-old star wide receiver?
The Jets need to build around the core young players they have, not ship them away. Spoiler alert: the Jets are taking a QB in the first round of April’s draft. Having a player like Wilson will aid in that young man’s development. Plus, you have plenty of other picks and over $100 million in projected cap space to put even more pieces around him.
The Wilson trade narrative doesn’t make any sense. Wilson hasn’t asked out. People are simply projecting their own feelings from the outside. Plus, even if he did ask out, why would the Jets move him?
Wilson is still under team control through the 2030 season. The Jets hold the cards. Hell, Lamar Jackson requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. They figured it all out, and he never left.
The Jets don’t have to do a damn thing. Wilson is here to stay, and that isn’t changing.
Rex Ryan Strongly Responds to Garrett Wilson Jets Trade Rumors