The Jets embrace the tank<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare to see a franchise accept what everyone else already knows \u2013 that what they\u2019ve built isn\u2019t working. The Jets didn\u2019t just tweak their roster at the deadline; they detonated it. In a dizzying few hours, they dealt cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys.<\/p>\n
Moving two All-Pros at the deadline is unprecedented. No team has ever so clearly embraced tanking<\/a> at the deadline. The Jets, for once, looked in the mirror and were honest. They decided they were not good enough, and shipped out as many stars as they could for a mountain of future draft picks. They are now loaded with picks in 2026 and 2027, the latter of which has a much stronger draft class.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t fault the logic. Even with Gardner blanketing half the field and Williams crushing pockets, the Jets were 1\u20137 this season. The defense wasn\u2019t the main problem, but it\u2019s fallen off a cliff under Aaron Glenn\u2019s leadership. So they tore it down. Gardner and Williams net three future first-rounders and a second-rounder over the next two seasons, giving the Jets five first-round picks in 2026 and 2027 combined. It\u2019s a war chest that could recalibrate the entire organization around the offense. They already have a talented, young offensive line, and they kept Garrett Wilson, a blue-chip wide receiver. With that kind of draft ammunition over multiple draft classes, they can identify whoever they believe is the next elite quarterback prospect and build out a stable group around them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to scoff at teams giving up All-Pro talent for draft picks, particularly a 25-year-old like Gardner. Draft picks are great! Who knows, you could even select a player as talented as Sauce Gardner!<\/p>\n But it\u2019s different for the Jets. They\u2019re not operating on a playoff or championship timeline. They tried a quick-fix with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and it didn\u2019t work<\/a>. Now, they\u2019re finally taking a long-term view. If that puts them two years away from playoff contention, then picking up three first-round picks for a volatile cornerback and a defensive lineman who will be 29 by 2027 is wise. The question, of course, is whether \u201cwise\u201d and \u201cJets\u201d can coexist when Woody Johnson, who makes a strong case<\/a> for the worst owner in US sports, is still in charge. The moves should at least confirm that Johnson will stick with head coach Glenn, who will now be able to mould the roster in his own image.<\/p>\n Teams don\u2019t typically throw seasons away, and the Jets haven\u2019t made the playoffs since the 2010 season, the longest drought in the NFL. The record of tanking in the NFL is poor. This isn\u2019t the NBA, where one player can transform the trajectory of a franchise, and the No 1 overall pick is the most valuable commodity in the sport. There are too many moving pieces in football for one player to be an NBA-like difference-maker. The Browns, Dolphins and Texans have all tried some variation of multi-year tanking, and all three have failed to different degrees (Houston being the most successful). Still, the Jets deserve credit for extracting maximum value out of two players while resetting their own timeline. They may lack a pair of playmakers for the final eight games of this season, but they\u2019re set up to build a strong foundation over the next two seasons. If anything, they should have pushed further and traded Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall before the deadline closed. Sorry, Breece<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Colts go all-in<\/p>\n On the flip side of one of the Jets\u2019 mega-deals are the Colts. Indy gave up two first-round picks and absorbed Gardner\u2019s $30m per-year deal to fix their one glaring hole: cornerback. After trying to patchwork the group together, GM Chris Ballard decided to go all-in, chasing the biggest name available at the deadline. At 25 years old, Gardner is the youngest ever multiple All-Pro to be traded midseason. Players of his caliber rarely, if ever, become available during their prime.<\/p>\n The Colts paid a higher price because they believe they acquired a player who could help them win a Super Bowl this year, just as the Rams did in the past with Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey.<\/p>\n But there are reasons why Gardner was available in the first place, despite signing a contract extension with the Jets in the offseason. He\u2019s taken a step back since his otherworldly rookie season. Cornerback is a notoriously volatile position, but even by those standards, Gardner\u2019s last couple of seasons have been worrying. In press coverage, where he can plaster himself to a receiver one-on-one, he remains one of the best in the game. Everything else has been a mystery. Gardner has shown little interest in tackling in a league that is increasingly built around the run game. He has also been responsible for plenty of coverage breakdowns while the splash plays have dried up (he has one interception in the last two and a half seasons).<\/p>\n The Colts are betting that in a stronger environment, the Gardner of his rookie season will return. That player can lock down one-half of the field and help raise their entire defense, even if he doesn\u2019t offer top-tier playmaking on his own. Maybe they\u2019re right. But betting two first-round picks on an idea of who a player could be rather than who he has shown to be over 18 months is one heck of a gamble.<\/p>\n Trading two first-rounders also confirms that the Colts believe Daniel Jones is the long-term answer, too. Without the means to draft a quarterback in the first round, they\u2019ll likely sign Jones to a long-term extension, somewhere in the vicinity of three years for $120m. Jones has been lights out over the first half of the season, but that\u2019s a small sample size to bank the future of the franchise on.<\/p>\n It may work out. But it feels like a classic move from a GM under pressure. Ballard has built good, not great, teams for half a decade. He is working with new owners this year. Gardner could be the piece that turns good into great, or the overreach that ends Ballard\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n Trades often work. It\u2019s another path to upgrading a roster. Too many teams fetishize draft picks, the Colts chief among them. Trading one first-rounder is all-in; it\u2019s effectively getting a player now that you\u2019d have drafted next spring. And when that player is a 25-year-old All-Pro, it\u2019s a no-brainer. But moving two first-round picks when you don\u2019t have a settled quarterback is a reach. And doing so when you have a GM fighting for his future based on a hot start against an easy-ish schedule is a questionable process.<\/p>\n Jerry keeps his word<\/p>\n Jerry Jones promised a deadline day splash. He delivered. The Cowboys traded real assets \u2013 a first- and second-round pick over the next two drafts \u2013 to get Williams, a high-level interior disruptor. Adding Williams gives the Cowboys one of the most gifted interior defensive lines in the league. It\u2019s a desperate attempt to fix their historically lousy run defense. Add linebacker Logan Wilson, who was acquired from Cincinnati for a seventh-round pick, and Dallas suddenly have upgrades at two key positions. Wilson looked cooked with the Bengals, but he at least knows where to be, and that\u2019s a luxury Dallas hasn\u2019t had at linebacker this season.<\/p>\n On paper, it\u2019s coherent. In practice, it\u2019s expensive. They have already invested the majority of the return they received for trading away Micah Parsons. With all the moves in the books, they essentially dealt Parsons to:<\/p>\n Acquire Williams<\/p>\n Acquire defensive tackle Kenny Clark from the Packers<\/p>\n Move up from the second to the first round in the 2026 draft, roughly 20 spots<\/p>\n Save $70m in salary cap space<\/p>\n Is that a deal you would make? Parsons is a unique, dominant force at a premium position, still in his prime. Williams is excellent, but not on Parsons\u2019 level. Clark may not even be on the roster next season. The Cowboys can gain an additional $20m in cap room if they release him this offseason.<\/p>\n The Cowboys\u2019 defense may be better this season, sure. But this is less about long-term planning than the emotional volatility of Jones. It still feels like Jones \u2013 and by default the Cowboys \u2013 are making it up as they go along. Each move makes sense on its own. But step back and bundle them together, and Dallas traded away one of the best players in the league for an excellent player nearing the end of his prime and some cap flexibility.<\/p>\n Has Howie Roseman built another championship winning team? Photograph: David J Phillip\/APThe defending champs load up<\/p>\n