A year after the Jets sent Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas, the deal tree still looks more like a warning sign than a reset.
The three teams involved have combined for a 14-35 record since the trades on November 4, 2025, and none of them has escaped the fallout. Indianapolis fired general manager Chris Ballard on October 19.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn is sitting at 4-13 this season. Dallas coach Brian Schottenheimer is under increasing pressure if the Cowboys can’t stay in the race for the NFC East.
Gardner, now 25, has been limited by calf injuries since the move, missing five games overall - including four late last season when the Colts were trying to hang on to a playoff spot. Indianapolis’ most recent game ended in a 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Colts also do not own a 2027 first-round pick.
Williams has been the most productive of the bunch in pure on-field terms. The 28-year-old made the 2025 Pro Bowl with Dallas, leads the Cowboys with five sacks this season, and is second in the NFL with 11 tackles for loss. He also signed a three-year, $105.9 million contract extension in August.
For the Jets, the return package has started to take shape in a few different ways. New York currently has three players it acquired directly from the trades: wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, and nickelback D’Angelo Ponds.
Sadiq flashed with a 105-yard receiving game in Week 3, but he hasn’t come close to that output since. Ponds missed training camp with a calf injury and has played 64 defensive snaps.
Mitchell has dealt with his own injury issues, missing four games because of a surgically repaired finger. He did post 142 receiving yards in his most recent game, though.
The Jets also used a second-round pick obtained in the Williams deal to trade up for wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., who already has two 100-yard games. And on the defensive side, the replacement for Gardner has held his own in spots: Azareye’h Thomas, a 2025 third-round pick, has started 13 games and ranks 14th among 81 cornerbacks in yards allowed per coverage snap, even though he still doesn’t have an interception.
Up front, though, the Jets are still looking for more. Their defensive tackles have combined for just three sacks this season, and none of them rank in ESPN’s top 40 in pass-rush win rate.
There’s also the cap picture to sort through. New York is carrying nearly $21 million in 2026 salary-cap obligations tied to the trades, though rolling guarantees on Gardner’s extension did trim some of that exposure.
And the payoff, at least on paper, may still be ahead. The Jets are projected to hold the fifth pick, their own, plus the sixth pick from the Colts and the 14th pick from the Cowboys in the 2027 NFL Draft. They would be one of only two teams in the past 25 years to enter a draft with three first-round selections.
With 36-year-old Geno Smith viewed as a bridge quarterback, finding a franchise passer remains the biggest item on the Jets’ list.
In Other News...
Jaguars Are Forcing Their Way Into The AFC Contender Debate
Through eight weeks, the AFC picture has started to sort itself out, and Jacksonville has pushed its way into the conversation with the kind of steady, competitive play that demands attention. The Jaguars are being discussed alongside the Chiefs and Bills now, not as a novelty but as a team with enough substance to belong in the same broader contender debate, thanks to the way they have handled key moments and shown balance on both sides of the ball.
The bigger question is how real that standing is when the field gets tighter and the playoff race starts to sharpen. The Jaguars have earned a seat at the table, but the next stretch will reveal whether they are simply part of the early-season discussion or a team built to stay in it when the AFC race turns from interesting to unforgiving. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Face One Trade Deadline Decision They Really Cant Miss
With the NFL trade deadline nearing, the Jaguars are taking a measured approach rather than chasing a splashy move for the sake of it. Liam Coen and the front office have made it clear that any addition has to make sense on the field and in the locker room, with fit and chemistry carrying as much weight as talent. For a team trying to keep its momentum intact, that kind of restraint matters.
Jacksonville has seen enough around the league to know deadline deals can cut both ways, and the last thing it wants is a move that unsettles the roster or muddies the culture it has built. The Jaguars are looking for players who can blend in quickly and strengthen what is already there, not someone who forces a reset. In a deadline market that often tempts teams into overreaching, the bigger decision may be knowing exactly what not to do. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Face A Surprising Brian Thomas Jr Decision As Deadline Nears
The Jaguars have spent the season trying to add around the edges as they push to stay in the competitive mix, but Brian Thomas Jr. has become one of the more surprising names to watch as the deadline approaches. Even with Jacksonville reluctant to move him, the wideouts role in the offense has shrunk enough that his future has turned into a real talking point inside a team that still has bigger goals in front of it.
Reports now point toward a trade being likely, with a noncontending team emerging as a possible landing spot if Jacksonville decides to make the move. For a club that has been focused on strengthening the roster rather than subtracting from it, the decision would say plenty about how Thomas fits into the offense right now and how quickly the Jaguars are willing to adjust before the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]