The Jets are selling, but the NFL’s free agents (and trade targets) aren’t necessarily buying.
“What I heard on the Jets is, they were in on a ton of guys and got nobody,” an NFL executive told The Athletic as part of an in-depth free agency analysis piece.
“They don’t have a selling point to players right now. People don’t know what to think of Zach Wilson, players don’t necessarily covet playing in that market, and guys who have choices tend to wind up elsewhere. They are in this weird purgatory.”
This sentiment is backed up by Tyreek Hill choosing the Dolphins over the Jets when it came time for the Chiefs to trade him, and then laughing off the potential of the Jets once he got to Miami. General manager Joe Douglas continues to pursue a No. 1 wide receiver to pair with Wilson, but he has had no success so far.
If there is a silver lining for the Jets as they have swung and missed, it is that they haven’t done anything stupid otherwise.
“I’m good with the process,” another executive told The Athletic. “The Jets of old would go and spend huge money in free agency and have it not work. Instead of running up the hill, they are hiking up the hill the correct way. They need their young quarterback and young receivers to get better, and then can they be sounder on defense? I don’t think they are ready to jump to the playoffs, but they are getting better.”
