Jets Winners & Losers After the Trade Deadline: Doors Open Amid Missed Opportunities

Gang Green remained quiet, but that doesn't mean there weren't any winners and losers to emerge.

Will McDonald IV is among the losers after the Jets' quiet trade deadline performance. Who else joins him? And who's on the winning list? | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The NFL trade deadline has officially passed, and while the Jaguars and Vikings made some big moves and the Colts continued to clean house, the Jets remained quiet and kept their roster mostly intact despite a frustrating 2-7 start to the season.

Even though players like Harrison Phillips, Will McDonald IV and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. were on the list of those who could be traded, safety Andre Cisco was the only Jet let go, as he was acquired by the Lions. While that did not come as much of a surprise given his diminished role and expiring contract, it was a little shocking to see the rest of the roster go unchanged amid a four-game losing streak.

Coming off their latest blunder against the Chiefs in a 35-12 loss, it is now or never for the Jets to show what they've got at the season's midway point. With that in mind, here are the biggest winners and losers following the trade deadline.

Winner: Malachi Moore, S

Although Moore has primarily played on special teams this season and has been productive in that role with eight tackles, he has only played nine defensive snaps in eight games and has clearly taken on a reduced role due to the additions of Minkah Fitzpatrick and Dane Belton.

Combine that with Cisco also being on the roster until he was traded, and Moore essentially became an afterthought in the secondary despite recording the second-most tackles on the team during his rookie season (101). While Cisco's departure could also open the door for rookie VJ Payne to get some opportunities after starting the season on injured reserve due to a bone bruise in his knee, Moore is in line to be the direct backup behind Belton and Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick may have picked up the team's lone interception earlier this season, but the secondary has been a weak spot for the Jets with numerous blown coverages and undisciplined play. As Moore moves up the depth chart, he should see an uptick in sub-package defensive snaps and have some additional opportunities to try and build on the bright spots he showed last season.

Loser: Will McDonald IV, DE

Even though McDonald still has another year remaining on his contract and appeared to be someone who was going to be packing his bags before the deadline, that ultimately did not come to fruition as he remains in Gotham. For someone with 24.5 sacks in just three-and-a-half seasons, it is understandable that New York would want to hold onto him.

That said, the 2023 first-rounder out of Iowa State has played less than 50% of the snaps for the defense this season and has been relegated to more of a situational role. While McDonald expressed his frustration about wanting to take his talents somewhere else, head coach Aaron Glenn addressed the deadline uncertainty with a vote of confidence toward his DE.

"I just know we're in the business of keeping good players, so Will's going to be here," Glenn said, per Jets on SI's Nick Faria.

Still, McDonald has gone from a primary pass rusher to a third-down specialist with fewer opportunities. While some of that is on a coaching staff that continues to mismanage its roster, a lot also has to do with the emergence of rookie David Bailey and the fact that he is receiving more snaps as a result

Winner: Jets' 2027 draft outlook

The Jets may have kept their pieces in place despite not making any significant trade deadline moves, but that is not necessarily a bad thing for their long-term future. They already have three first-round picks (their own, the Colts' and the higher of the Cowboys' two picks), and they only benefited that much more as the 2-7 Colts have gone through a fire sale by trading away most of their top players and likely getting an even higher pick by season's end.

Even though the Jets didn't do a lot at the trade deadline, their 2027 NFL Draft outlook couldn't be brighter than it is. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Even teams like the Eagles and Jaguars could be playing a role for the Jets as it relates to the draft. Given the needs the Eagles currently have and the likelihood that they stick with Jalen Hurts at QB, combined with the fact that Atlanta only has one first-round pick, the Jets could still be sneaky winners with the power they currently have in their draft capital.

Loser: Nahshon Wright, CB

Wright was signed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal in the offseason following a breakout 2025 campaign that featured a career-high five interceptions and his first Pro Bowl nod. However, he was expected to see his way out the door from Gotham after being a healthy scratch in more games than he's played this season.

Instead, the Jets decided to keep him around, perhaps with the hope that his playmaking abilities and tendency to create takeaways in his career could prove beneficial for a defense that has struggled in that area. Therefore, it seemed like a no-brainer move for the Jets to get him into the lineup for Week 9 against the Chiefs, even if that ended up being far from the case.

That said, Wright remains mired on the depth chart, looking for playing opportunities. An interested party would have only needed $833,333 in cap space to make a deal work, per Spotrac, but the Jets did not budge and chose to keep him on the roster, even if his opportunities remain few and far between.

Winner: Aaron Glenn, HC

While execution on both sides of the ball continues to plague Glenn this season, particularly his lack of aggressiveness and inability to adjust to what is happening on the field, he was certainly one of the biggest winners to emerge from the trade deadline due to the quiet approach the Jets took.

Nov 8, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn on the field prior to a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He may only be 5-21 during his brief tenure in Gang Green and 0-8 within the AFC East, a clear sign of a coach who is just getting by at this point until the Jets eventually let him go. The decision to retain QB Geno Smith and RB1 Breece Hall, specifically, gives him the best possible roster to try and finish out the season with some positives.

The talent, as we have seen, does not mean anything if the coaching does not utilize it correctly and execute in key situations. The writing may already be on the wall for Glenn, regardless of what happens for the rest of the season, but at least he gets the benefit of having a talented roster that is essentially the same as when the season began.

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