WHAT THE ZACH WILSON TRADE MEANS FOR THE NEW YORK JETS IN 2024

The divorce between Zach Wilson and the New York Jets was inevitable. His tenure in New York was an unmitigated disaster, but just to be fair, it did include a few flashes. Though, it must be said, his “flashes” were very much the exception to the rule.

It’s a new era for Wilson and the Jets following the trade that sent him to the Denver Broncos.

There’s no reason to rehash the gory details of Wilson’s first three seasons in the NFL. He was the primary source of his own issues, and while we won’t absolve him, it would be unnecessarily harsh to place the blame solely on his shoulders. Absorbing 113 sacks in 34 games certainly doesn’t help, for example.

With Wilson being Broncos bound, he gets an opportunity to resurrect and save his career. He wouldn’t be the first high-profile quarterback to find his footing after stumbling out of the gates.

Meanwhile, the trade sets the Jets (and Broncos) further down their respective paths. For the Jets in particular, moving Wilson erases any current transition plan, which may be something New York looks to address in the 2024 NFL Draft.

New York Jets Push More Chips into “Now or Never” Season

Robert Saleh enters Year 4 as Jets head coach with an 18-33 record

The idea of 2024 serving as a “now or never” campaign for the Jets is nothing new or profound. It doesn’t take an Adam Schefter inside scoop to know that another poor — or even just playoffs-less — season could spell the end of Robert Saleh’s tenure. Maybe even general manager Joe Douglas’s as well.

They can save their jobs, at least for another season, with a good showing this fall. That task falls squarely on the back — or more accurately, right shoulder and surgically repaired Achilles — of the 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers’ season-ending injury four snaps into the 2023 season revealed the Jets’ most egregious oversight: failing to roster an established and capable backup quarterback.

In the Jets’ ideal world, Wilson would’ve sat behind Rodgers in 2023, and taken advantage of the opportunity to learn and grow away from the line of fire. But cue Mike Tyson’s sage wisdom: “Everyone has a plan until he gets punched in the mouth.” And punched in the mouth is what happened to the Jets almost immediately following the opening bell.

The Jets made an adjustment this offseason, signing 13-year veteran Tyrod Taylor to serve as Rodgers’ backup. Taylor is a quality No. 2 with 58 starts, including three seasons as the Buffalo Bills’ primary starter.

Taylor, 35 years old in August, provides cover this season, but he’s certainly not a piece of the future.

Wilson, 25 years old in August (he ironically shares the same birthday as Taylor), is no longer a part of the Jets’ future plans, but in theory, he would’ve represented a natural transition into the post-Rodgers era.

But for Gang Green, replaying what was supposed to be a Super Bowl contending season is a much more pressing priority than worrying about 2025 and beyond, especially since there will be a new coaching staff and front office in place to worry about the “beyond” if 2024 is another poor season.

Jets Turn the 2021 No. 2 Selection Into Pick No. 203 in 2024

Jets receive sixth-round pick in exchange for Wilson and a seventh rounder

The Jets may be lucky to get anything for Wilson given his on and off-the-field struggles, but one team’s trash is another team’s… “treasure." We’ll stick to the cliché, as inappropriate as it is in this particular case.

And the Jets certainly didn’t receive a haul. They surrendered a seventh-round pick along with Wilson for a sixth-round choice, No. 203 overall.

It’s charming to recall guys like Tom Brady, Brock Purdy, and Terrell Davis, who eviscerated their modest expectations as sixth-round picks (or later). We’re not going to paint the sky Gotham Green to suggest that they’ll find a gem with this pick.

The possibility of them landing a rotational contributor is not out of the question, but draft capital is currency. Perhaps the best-case scenario for Jets fans to consider is that they use this slightly more attractive draft chip to move up and land a player who offers tangible value.

If Douglas and the Jets keep one eye on life after Rodgers, they may decide to address their “quarterback of the future” with one of their Day 2–3 picks: No. 72, 111, and 134. While there’s a case to be made for a handful of third-round quarterbacks over the years, teams do not typically find their franchise quarterback that deep into the draft.

Zach Wilson Receives Chance To Resurrect His NFL Career

Wilson would not be the first to take advantage of his second chance

Wilson enters a quarterback room that currently houses Jarrett Stidham as the presumptive starter and Ben DiNucci as the No. 3. It’s arguably the best spot in which Wilson could have landed, for now at least. The Broncos are still a prime candidate to pursue a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. Doing so would cloud Wilson’s path to a successful second chapter.

A debate can be made about whether Wilson deserves to be the leader in the clubhouse for the QB1 role based on his relative experience. He has started over twice as many games and attempted over four times as many NFL passes as Stidham, and DiNucci is best served as a No. 3 no matter the circumstances.

Of course, at this point, Wilson will be required to earn every ounce of the starting role, regardless of whether the Broncos call a quarterback’s name in the draft.

It’s far too simple to look at Wilson and suggest that he could be the next Geno Smith or Baker Mayfield 2.0 — highly touted quarterback prospects who took the scenic route to NFL success. There are a number of factors that are too difficult — if not impossible — to project as we consider the possibility of Wilson generating more success in his new home.

Some of those “projections” include the relationship Wilson develops with head coach Sean Payton, a purported quarterback guru. Payton enjoyed extensive success when he had Drew Brees pulling the strings, but it has not translated to his other signal callers thus far.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

2024-04-25T05:08:21Z dg43tfdfdgfd