Proposed Trade Reunites $5.4 Million Jets Draft Bust With Former Coach

Getty New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh walking down the sideline of an NFL game.

With the NFL trade deadline rapidly approaching the New York Jets could be looking to make a move.

A few players on their roster have requested trades and if the right opportunity presents itself, they could move some product to ascend up the ladder in the AFC.

Denzel Mims Gets Shipped in a Jets-Cardinals Trade

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report was tasked with finding one player each NFL team should try to acquire ahead of the deadline.

For the Arizona Cardinals, he had them trading for Denzel Mims in a deal with the Jets.

“Mims, a 2020 second-round pick out of Baylor, has a lot of untapped potential and a connection with the Cards’ coaching staff.

Associate head coach and receivers coach Shawn Jefferson was the Jets’ assistant head coach and receivers coach during Mims’ rookie season. Jefferson might want to get another look at Mims over the final year-and-a-half of his rookie contract.”

This would also slap two former Jets receivers together as the Cardinals already acquired Robbie Anderson earlier this season.

The Jets reportedly were seeking a fourth-rounder for Mims’ services but Knox argues “they may be willing to accept less now” because he hasn’t played much this season.

He had Arizona taking a “flier” in this trade suggesting it would be day three capital (in the fifth to the seventh round range).

Although Mims has gotten on the field more recently due to a myriad of injuries and other issues with the wide receiver room.

The former Baylor product still has another year and a half left on the original rookie contract he signed when he was drafted. It was a standard four-year deal for $5.4 million.

Denzel Mims Deserves Credit for Jets’ Future

While Mims did in fact request a trade, the coaching staff maintains that it isn’t a question of being here or not but rather about playing time and opportunities.

For the majority of this season to date, the former Baylor product has been on ice. The Jets made a conscious effort to improve the room since he was selected by signing other guys and drafting people. So that is a fancy way of saying they haven’t been satisfied with what they had seen thus far.

To Mims’ credit, he hasn’t burned bridges or been a cancer in the locker room. Instead, he has quietly gone about his business and that has put him in a position to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented.

That started last week versus the Denver Broncos with the Elijah Moore situation. With him being a healthy scratch, Mims got his first reps of the 2022 season.

Then this week with more injuries to the wide receiving corps, Mims is once again set to be a big cog in this Jets’ offensive machine.

Everyone wants to look at the stats, but as can often be the case, you can contribute in other ways. Mims was able to do that on the monster Breece Hall touchdown with an incredibly physical block that opened up a huge lane.

If Mims stays on this team moving forward the physicality he brings in the running game will be a critical piece to his contributions.