Further reporting by Jeremy Fowler, Stephen Holder and Dan Graziano
AT A STONE church on a hill, in a pastoral city solely two miles from their coaching facility, the New York Jets paid their respect to a franchise icon Tuesday morning in Madison, New Jersey. Greater than 400 mourners packed into St. Vincent Martyr for Nick Mangold’s funeral Mass, 10 days after the beloved heart died due to problems from kidney illness at age 41.
Jets basic supervisor Darren Mougey was among the many final to reach, strolling purposefully into the church as a bagpiper crammed the crisp autumn air with strains of sorrow. Mougey wore a darkish swimsuit and the expression of a person whose thoughts was racing. 5 hours remained till the NFL commerce deadline at 4 p.m. ET, and he was sitting on a few blockbusters.
Mougey stood behind the church (“A wonderful service,” he would say later) and slipped out earlier than it was over, heading again to the workplace for pressing enterprise. Again at St. Vincent, about three dozen of Mangold’s former teammates from the Jets and Ohio State congregated exterior the church after the Mass, exchanging hugs and wiping tears. The casket was positioned within the hearse, bagpiper enjoying once more. A solemn second.
Minutes later, a information flash on social media: Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner traded to the Indianapolis Colts.
Phrase slowly unfold by way of the group of mourners. One in every of them was Darrelle Revis, a Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer who, as soon as upon a time, was traded by the Jets in his prime. He refused to consider his outdated group had parted with considered one of its younger stars.
“No they did not,” Revis stated matter-of-factly, when knowledgeable of the commerce. “You are joking.”
Any individual confirmed him Gardner’s social media submit, bidding farewell to New York. Revis shook his head in disbelief. It was actual, and it was beautiful.
And it wasn’t the group’s solely stunning transfer because the Jets (1-7) pulled off two main trades. They dealt Gardner and defensive deal with Quinnen Williams for 4 draft picks and two backup gamers, blew up the core of what as soon as was a top-five protection and fueled a torrent of conflicting feelings of their locker room. This can be a story about how the Jets, attempting to overturn years of distress, culminated months of planning with two probably franchise-altering strikes in lower than two hours.
Tuesday night time, Mougey, who had barely slept the earlier two nights, was hoarse and drained. He misplaced his prepare of thought throughout a video name with reporters. He apologized, including, “I am working with half a mind right here.”
TO PREPARE FOR the commerce deadline, Mougey and his workers met weekly, beginning in Week 4. They mentioned the roster in-depth, assigning potential commerce worth for every participant. They studied contracts and comparisons from across the league, adjusting primarily based on the ebb and circulation of the season. The aim was to anticipate as many situations as attainable. They have been assured this may remove any recency bias.
Three weeks earlier than deadline day, the Colts referred to as and every little thing modified.
Initially, the Jets had no real interest in shifting Gardner, group sources stated. In any case, he is solely 25, a two-time All-Professional below group management by way of 2030 after a record-setting four-year, $120.4 million contract extension in July.
The Jets advised the Colts it could take a Micah Parsons-like deal, the identical group sources stated — i.e. two first-round picks and a top quality starter. One other reference level was the Jalen Ramsey commerce in 2019, when the Los Angeles Rams dealt two first-round picks for the star nook.
The Colts weren’t biting.
That shifted a number of days earlier than the deadline, because the affords “saved getting richer and richer,” Mougey stated. The Colts, coming off a loss after a blistering 7-1 begin, have been hoping to bolster their possibilities of a Tremendous Bowl run and coveted an outdoor cornerback.
The market was drying up — they checked into Deonte Banks of the New York Giants and New Orleans’ Alontae Taylor — and maybe that drove up the value for Gardner. Anticipating January dwelling video games, they wished to arrange for visiting passing assaults that will look to take advantage of the cozy indoor circumstances at Lucas Oil Stadium.
By Monday, they let the Jets know they “may probably do” a deal that included 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, a Colts group supply stated.
The Jets did not store the Colts’ provide to different groups, however they have been emphatic about having mercurial huge receiver Adonai Mitchell included within the package deal, in keeping with a Jets group supply. Mitchell, a 2024 second-round alternative, was buried on the Colts’ depth chart, however the Jets had optimistic scouting stories on him and a obtrusive want at receiver.
By the point Mougey left for the funeral, the commerce was near the aim line. He most likely may’ve pushed it throughout early that morning, however he hit the “pause” button out of sensitivity to the day’s occasions.
The primary-year GM did not know Mangold personally, however he is keenly conscious of what the group’s 2006 first-round decide meant to the franchise. He sees Mangold each day within the Jets’ fieldhouse, the place mural-sized photographs of Ring of Honor members cling from the rafters.
So Mougey made the two-mile drive to St. Vincent, hoping phrase of the looming deal would not leak. The very last thing he wished was a information alert disrupting the mourners, and in that case the Jets did an excellent job conserving each trades below wraps, so good that rival executives have been shocked when the offers have been introduced.
“I didn’t count on this in any respect,” stated an AFC government who had handled the Jets.
GARDNER AND HIS brother, Allante, additionally considered one of his brokers, have been notified by the Jets across the identical time — 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Sauce obtained a name from Mougey, Allante from Nick Sabella, the Jets’ senior director of soccer administration. That they had no inkling that one of many greatest NFL trades of 2025 was within the works, in keeping with Allante, who referred to as it a sound enterprise resolution by the Jets.
“They could not flip it down, and Ahmad [Sauce] deserves to be on a profitable soccer group,” Allante stated.
Recalling his dialog with Sabella, Allante Gardner stated, “It was nearly like he was saying, ‘That is going to harm, however we’ve got to do it for the way forward for the group.'”
Sauce was alleged to be a part of that future.
Solely 4 months earlier, the Jets had locked in arguably their hottest participant with an extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback. Gardner beloved the thought of enjoying his whole profession in New York. He proclaimed his want to assist change the dropping tradition.
Coach Aaron Glenn, too, was giddy, saying Gardner and huge receiver Garrett Wilson (four-year, $130 million extension) have been “foundational gamers.”
“I need them right here for a very long time,” Glenn, who has vital say on personnel choices, stated on the time.
For the Jets, with 14 consecutive non-playoff seasons (the longest energetic drought), the extensions supplied a feel-good vibe at the beginning of coaching camp. It is extremely uncommon for a group to flip a participant so quickly after extending him, however Mougey and Sabella structured Gardner’s deal in a means that allowed them to flee with minimal cap ramifications — solely $13.75 million in signing bonus, with rolling ensures that shall be absorbed by the Colts.
That call wasn’t an accident; Mougey stated they wished to make it a tradable contract, simply in case. In essence, it made Gardner extra fascinating. As a special league supply stated, “If Sauce did not have an extension, do Jets get two [first-round picks]? Most likely not.”
The Jets did not signal him to commerce him 4 months later, however the panorama modified due to their subpar document and the will to buttress their rebuild with draft capital. Although nobody ever criticized Gardner publicly, there was inside concern about his ball manufacturing (three interceptions in 55 video games) and excessive penalty price (14 in his previous 25 video games).
Gardner is taken into account essentially the most flawed of the elite corners, with one NFC government saying, “By no means been an enormous Sauce fan, in order that was an excellent deal to me that you just simply could not go up.”
An AFC government added, “[The] lack of interceptions and penalties have at all times been the difficulty with [Gardner], however in any other case a very good participant.”
Glenn praised Gardner’s expertise but additionally instructed the change of surroundings is likely to be good for him. In his post-trade feedback, he made it sound as if no participant is untouchable.
Thirty years in the past, Glenn’s coach and mentor, Invoice Parcells, expressed the identical sentiment to him when commerce rumors have been swirling. The Corridor of Famer advised Glenn, a younger nook on the time, that he’d commerce his spouse for the precise value. That at all times caught with him.
Jets proprietor Woody Johnson not too long ago referred to as Gardner and Wilson “nice skills,” saying their contract extensions have been vital to the group. Attempt to think about Johnson’s response when, solely two weeks after making that remark, his high soccer lieutenants knowledgeable him of their plans to commerce Gardner.
Really, it wasn’t what you might need anticipated.
Johnson, identified previously for meddling, was pragmatic and professed his religion in Mougey and Glenn, in keeping with a Jets group supply.
FOR THE JETS, trapped in a dropping vortex for the higher a part of twenty years, historical past at all times repeats itself.
Twelve years in the past, first-time GM John Idzik wished to speed up the rebuilding course of, so he traded his Most worthy asset for first- and fourth-round picks. And so Revis, arguably the best cornerback of his technology, was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on April 21, 2013.
And there Revis was Tuesday, paying respect to Mangold, solely two miles from the place some of the stunning trades in group historical past was taking place. As soon as he absorbed the information, he praised the transfer.
“I suppose that is sort of an analogous path for Sauce,” Revis stated. “On this scenario, I believe the Johnson household is attempting to look to the longer term, getting these draft picks for him. It has been a troublesome 12 months, actually powerful for the group, however I believe the longer term is at all times vivid and you’ll at all times flip issues round.”
With the returns for the Gardner and Williams trades, the Jets maintain 5 first-round picks over the following two drafts — two in 2026, three in 2027.
“It begins with looking for a franchise quarterback,” stated Revis, who performed with Tom Brady on the New England Patriots’ 2014 Tremendous Bowl championship group. “I believe these guys have been attempting to try this for the final couple of years.”
For the final 50, however who’s counting?
TWO WEEKS AGO, Williams realized from a reporter that he was on the verge of 100 video games in a Jets uniform — 98, to be precise.
“You hear that?” he stated in a joking technique to a teammate on the subsequent locker. “I by no means thought I might make it.”
He did not — no less than not with the Jets.
In that second, Williams needed to know there was an opportunity he’d be traded by the deadline. His camp had made it identified that the previous All-Professional coveted a change of surroundings, league and group sources stated.
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Williams, who went 27-2 in two enjoying seasons at Alabama, was worn down by dropping. He arrived in 2019, was drafted No. 3, and the closest he got here to a profitable season in New York was 7-9 as a rookie. In reality, he skilled extra dropping than simply about each participant in group historical past.
Of the 73 gamers with no less than 100 video games performed as a Jet, the bottom profitable share belongs to present long-snapper Thomas Hennessy — a .300 mark from 2017 to current. Williams (.306) could be proper behind him, second on the listing.
“I believe the world knew I used to be pissed off being there so lengthy and nonetheless dropping,” Williams stated Wednesday at his introductory information convention with the Dallas Cowboys.
Williams foreshadowed his emotions together with his notorious tweet in February, saying, “One other rebuild 12 months for me I suppose” — his response to the information that quarterback Aaron Rodgers was being launched. That social media submit did not sit effectively with people within the group.
The dropping, coupled with a refined place change (he was used primarily as a 3-technique deal with as an alternative of his standard spot at nostril deal with), fueled his unhappiness. His standard manufacturing wasn’t there; he had just one sack — coincidentally, a takedown of former teammate Rodgers on the primary play of the season (a 34-32 dwelling loss to Pittsburgh).
Not like the Gardner deal, the Williams commerce got here late and quick. Talks with the Cowboys intensified Monday, Jets group sources stated. The Jets made it clear to Dallas that they needed to be blown away to half with one of many league’s greatest defensive tackles. One other group, reportedly the Jacksonville Jaguars, made a robust push. It was a really perfect scenario for the Jets, who had two groups .
After getting back from the funeral, Mougey finalized the commerce — Williams for a 2026 second-round decide, a 2027 first-round decide and backup defensive deal with Mazi Smith.
Right here was the clincher for the Jets, a group supply stated: They negotiated the precise to get the higher of the Cowboys’ two first-round picks in 2027, as Dallas has its personal choice and the Inexperienced Bay Packers’ decide from the Parsons commerce. That might have large ramifications within the Jets’ favor if Dallas (3-5-1) has a dropping season in 2026.
With a stockpile of draft capital, the Jets have the sources to commerce up for a quarterback in ’26 or ’27 or use the picks to pry a veteran away from one other group. They wished flexibility. Properly, they obtained it.
“Greater than something,” Glenn stated, “we need to ensure that we construct this group in our imaginative and prescient.”
JETS WIDE RECEIVER Allen Lazard checked his telephone Tuesday and noticed a textual content from a detailed pal. It merely stated:
“OMG.”
Lazard figured it was a commerce, so he checked X and noticed the Gardner information. The Williams information broke a short while later.
Your entire locker room responded in an “OMG” sort of technique to the blockbuster strikes. Edge rusher Jermaine Johnson posted on social media his assist for the group, however added, “I am sick.” Operating again Breece Corridor stated, “It sucks, but it surely’s the character of the enterprise.”
Glenn, charged with motivating a group that noticed two of its greatest gamers traded for draft capital that will not assist it win in 2025, addressed it briefly in a group assembly. His message: Change within the NFL is a continuing; change creates alternative. Will his gamers purchase it? There might be a solution Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS) when the Jets host the Cleveland Browns (2-6) — a sport that might have large draft implications.
Two miles down the street, on a blue-sky Tuesday, former Jets from the 2000s and 2010s have been grappling with a special sort of shock. Solely 15 years in the past, Mangold anchored an offensive line that helped the Jets to the AFC Championship Recreation — their final playoff look.
“It is heartbreaking,” Revis stated.
The Jets have taken half within the circle of restoration and renewal for a half-century, attempting to beat the previous whereas trying ahead to a brighter tomorrow.
And so Revis, among the finest to ever put on a Jets uniform, did simply that.
“With all these draft picks, I can sort of see the chess strikes being made on the board,” he stated, his voice competing with the tolling bell atop St. Vincent.