With the Jets going nowhere and the NFL’s Oct. 29 trade deadline approaching, Adam Gase’s side is facing another pseudo-rebuild after an offseason that offered the promise of a step toward contention.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, multiple teams are keeping an eye on defensive end Leonard Williams — who could offer a solid return for a Jets team that is still full of holes.
The No. 6 pick of the 2015 draft is coming off a bounceback campaign last year in which he posted five sacks and 42 combined tackles. He had just two sacks in 2017 after a seven-sack 2016.
Williams has yet to record a sack in four games this season, but his 88 quarterback hits (not sacks) are tied for eighth-most in the NFL dating back to 2015.
SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano added that the Jets are “expected to be active sellers” at the deadline as general manager Joe Douglas begins to build the roster in his vision after taking over for the team in June — after a free-agency period and draft that was led by former GM Mike Maccagnan.
Maccagnan’s team is still looking for their first win of the season entering Week 6 against the Dallas Cowboys, though this will be the first time since Week 1 that they’ll have franchise quarterback Sam Darnold under center after a bout with mononucleosis.
The second-year passer’s absence exposed just how much more work Jets management has to do as a sputtering offense has been completely invisible over the first quarter of the season.
New York’s offense had scored just 17 total points in four games before Sunday afternoon’s clash with the Dallas Cowboys. Darnold accounted for eight of those in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.
Mostly with third-string quarterback Luke Falk, Gase’s offense was nothing short of inept as they lacked any sort of venom behind an offensive line that resembled a sieve more than anything. Their best chance at success was getting the ball to All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell, who was left on an island to make plays on his own.
The playmakers outside of Bell are also lacking. Jamison Crowder has shown flashes of being a reliable slot receiver, but Robby Anderson and Demaryius Thomas have offered little help on the outside. It makes the absence of Quincy Enunwa, whose development has been decimated by injuries, felt that much more.
Trading players like Williams, offensive guard Kelechi Osemele, or cornerback Trumaine Johnson would get the Jets the draft capital needed to try and find those playmakers, but it’s going to be an extended process.
