For the first time in his New York Jets tenure, wide receiver Garrett Wilson entered the team facility on Wednesday without teammates Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams.
The Jets’ trade deadline teardown came as a shock to both the football world and the locker room, with no one quite expecting the magnitude of New York’s bold decisions.
Williams, one of the longest tenured Jets, was shipped to the Dallas Cowboys, netting defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2027 first-round pick that could either be the Cowboys or Green Bay Packers‘ selection.
Gardner, Wilson’s 2022 draft classmate, is now an Indianapolis Colt, just three months into the four-year extension the Jets inked him to over the summer.
The former All-Pro cornerback got New York two first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, along with a former second-round selection in wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
Wilson was the only player deemed “untouchable” by Jets brass, and after his comments following the earth-shaking trades, it’s easy to see why.
Garrett Wilson Breaks Silence on Deadline Deals
Naturally, Wilson was “shocked” to hear about the Gardner and Williams deals.
He and Sauce were particularly close, having come into the league at the same time and being selected six picks apart in the 2022 NFL Draft.
“It’s something I’m still getting used to. I don’t know being in this facility without Sauce around. It’s going to be an adjustment for me,” Wilson said via The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt.
It’s fair to question the former Ohio State star’s mentality coming out of the trade deadline, as the New York Jets are obviously a less talented team than they were before Tuesday’s deals.
But Wilson kept it professional and emphasized that he’s going to keep the focus on things that he can control.
“I gotta do my job. I get paid to catch passes, block, help my teammates out and make plays. They [Jets front office] get paid to do that…they have a vision,” Wilson continued.
“I don’t get paid to have a vision, they do. They got one and I’ve got to trust them.”
It makes sense as to why any trade conversation around Wilson was a non-starter with the Jets.
He’s a captain, says and does all the right things, and will be a key piece to New York’s development of a future rookie quarterback.
Garrett Wilson on New WR Adonai Mitchell
One of the underrated aspects of the New York Jets’ trade with the Indianapolis Colts was the addition of wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.
The former Texas star was the 52nd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and has tantalizing upside in terms of physical ability.
He had just been buried in a loaded Colts receiver room.
Wilson took the time to praise Mitchell when speaking with the press, shouting him out for a “hell of a day at practice.”
“He can go up and get the ball. He’s hard to tackle and then you watch him move and you’re like: Oh, he don’t move like his size,” Wilson raved via Rosenblatt.
“He has great body control…we’re gonna use that boy. I’m excited to see what he does because he’s got it all.”
The Jets needed some more bodies in the receiver room, and Mitchell, along with wideout John Metchie, who came over in the Michael Carter II trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, figures to provide some upside in an otherwise lacking pass-catching core.
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