The trade deadline came and went, and Garrett Wilson is still wearing green and white.
That alone should be enough to close the book on all the chatter that had the New York Jets wideout linked to San Francisco. For weeks, some 49ers fans convinced themselves Wilson was there for the taking, even after multiple reporters said the Jets’ WR1 wasn’t moving.
One of the louder takes came in October, when 49ers analyst Rob Guerrera appeared on Up & Adams and argued Wilson could be landed for a single first-round pick because the Jets are "nowhere fast."
Instead, San Francisco settled for a different receiver. The 49ers made their move for Indianapolis Colts wideout Keenan Allen, a 34-year-old in his 14th NFL season.
That’s not a shot at Allen’s résumé. He’s had a legendary career. But it’s also fair to say the most explosive years are behind him, and now Kyle Shanahan gets the job of squeezing whatever he can out of the veteran pass catcher.
Meanwhile, the Jets kept the player they’ve treated as a core piece of their future.
That future is the real point here. New York is expected to draft a quarterback next April, and the team has been laying the groundwork for that move for years. If and when that rookie arrives, Wilson is supposed to be the security blanket - the reliable target who makes life easier from day one.
The Jets already got a glimpse of what this offense looks like without him in Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and it wasn’t pretty.
So while the deadline noise made for plenty of speculation, the outcome was simple: Wilson stays put, and the Jets keep the piece they need most for whatever comes next.
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For a team trying to find any kind of stability, the concern is not just the production on the field but the sense that both sides may already be thinking beyond the present. Smith and Reich are each being judged on what happens now, yet the bigger question hanging over the Jets is whether either one is fully invested in fixing this partnership before the season slips further away. [Read more 🡒]
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The names in the discussion tell the story of where the franchise wants to go, with defensive prospects Leonard Moore, Chris Cole, Clev Lubin and Tavion Gadson all drawing attention as possible foundation pieces. The bigger question is how aggressively the Jets will chase a new franchise passer, and whether the front office sees enough in the current college crop to make that the defining move of the class. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Defense Already Has An Aaron Glenn Problem To Watch
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But the early read around the new defensive setup has not been especially encouraging. The concern is not just how the defense is performing, but how Duker is landing inside the building as he tries to establish himself in a first-year role. For a staff already under pressure to get the Jets pointed in the right direction, any unease around the coordinator spot only adds another layer of uncertainty Glenn has to manage. [Read more 🡒]