The New York Jets‘ fire sale yesterday took the league by storm, setting the football world ablaze with their brazenness in trading away two defensive cornerstones.
Sauce Gardner, a two-time All-Pro and Pro Bowler, is now with the Indianapolis Colts.
Quinnen Williams, a one-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler, is now with the Dallas Cowboys.
General manager Darren Mougey’s phone was likely ringing off the hook yesterday as teams called in for the Jets’ best players, including running back Breece Hall and edge Jermaine Johnson II, both of whom ended up staying in New York.
One mystery team, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, reportedly made a “strong push” for the services of Williams, but couldn’t get the deal done.
Jaguars Had Serious Interest in Jets’ Quinnen Williams
According to Schultz, the Jacksonville Jaguars had serious interest in acquiring the New York Jets’ star defensive lineman, but couldn’t or didn’t want to match the Dallas Cowboys’ offer.
“The #Jaguars were active in exploring a trade for #Jets DT Quinnen Williams before he was dealt to Dallas,” Schultz wrote in a post on X.
“New York ultimately made the deal with the Cowboys, but Jacksonville made a ‘strong push’ and it wasn’t for a lack of trying.”
Dallas ended up sending the Jets back defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2026 second-round pick, and their choice between their own or the Green Bay Packers‘ 2027 first-round pick.
It certainly would’ve been a high price for the Jags to match; most analysts felt the Cowboys overpaid in their trade for Williams.
But Jacksonville’s offer may have been less about draft capital and involved a high-profile player in exchange for the former Alabama product.
Did the Jaguars Offer Brian Thomas in Trade Talks?
Reports surrounding the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars have been interesting over the last 24 hours.
It started with an interesting tidbit of information from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who said the Jags were listening to calls on star wideout Brian Thomas Jr.
Russini said Jacksonville was “shopping for defense.”
Then, Zack Rosenblatt, also of The Athletic, shared on ‘Jets Final Drive’ that he had heard several teams were in on Williams leading into deadline day.
“He was floated as I think a player-for-player deal for somebody interesting that I don’t think I can reveal.”
In addition to Rosenblatt’s reporting, James Palmer indicated the same thing in an interview with Richie Mollura of NY Jets Media.
“With Quinnen Williams, there was a little bit of a buzz about him this morning…but that was a little bit more of a player-player deal as opposed to a one, which was fascinating to me,” Palmer told the panel.
Is it reasonable to connect the dots here and speculate that the Jets and Jaguars had dialogue regarding a Williams-Thomas Jr. swap?
Perhaps, but at the end of the day, New York struck their deal with the Dallas Cowboys, and the rest is history.
The Jets got their wide receiver reinforcements in other trades, landing Adonai Mitchell from the Indianapolis Colts and John Metchie from the Philadelphia Eagles.
But it’s still a fun thought experiment of imagining Garrett Wilson lined up across the field from Thomas Jr., one of the most exciting young wide receivers in football.
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