It's the end of an era for the once-defensively stacked Jets, who traded away stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams on Tuesday in pursuit of a full-blown franchise rebuild this offseason.
For the 1-7 Jets, their bottomed-out 2025 campaign has nowhere to go but up, but after Tuesday's blockbuster deals they may take a little longer to get where they want to be. For the last several years, the Jets have boasted one of the league's best defenses that nonetheless couldn't overcome the shortcomings of their very bad offense. Now armed with an arsenal of picks to draft their next franchise quarterback, the Jets can look ahead to an arguably brighter future—they had just better hope they don't miss on their QB.
MORE: NFL Trade Deadline Tracker
ESPN star and Jets mega-fan Mike Greenberg unsurprisingly had a lot to say while the Jets' fire sale was going down early Tuesday afternoon. Holding a glass half full, he insisted that the Gardner deal to the Colts was a "fabulous trade" that will do more good than harm for New York in the long run.
Greenberg was also stunned when the organization sent Williams to the Cowboys, but admitted that the star defensive lineman had been unhappy on the Jets for some time, and this was ultimately a win-win for both sides.
"It’s hard to argue with holding a fire sale—season is long over, and they got a lot in return," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), sharing his brutally honest take on seeing the Jets strip the team down to its bones. "There has been no evidence so far they have the right coach to mold the new team they will assemble, time will tell."
He then summed up how probably every Jets fan was feeling at the moment with one very sad line:
"But we have hope, I guess. Which is all we ever have."
It’s hard to argue with #Jets holding a fire sale - season is long over, and they got a lot in return.
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) November 4, 2025
There has been no evidence so far they have the right coach to mold the new team they will assemble, time will tell.
But we have hope, I guess. Which is all we ever have.
So sad—but also, true.
Thanks to their deadline deals so far, the Jets currently hold five first-round picks and two second-round picks over the next two seasons. Three of their first-round picks are in 2027, and the franchise has the potential to assemble one of the most talented draft classes of all time that year—if Woody Johnson and the Jets' coaches don't screw it up.
That is, of course, a huge if, but it's also the path the Jets have chosen, for better or worse. Breaking apart the squad now no doubt feels cruel, yet it just might be the best course of action for the Jets to end their decades of suffering and finally build a winning roster. At least, one can hope.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN’s Mike Greenberg Had the Saddest Line About Sauce Gardner Trade, Jets’ Fire Sale.
