Two Trade Ideas Jets Should Explore Before Deadline

The New York Jets aren’t interested in moral victories, but their performance on Sunday was a textbook example of one. In four quarters of inspired football, Aaron Glenn’s team thrilled its fan base in a way that hasn’t happened in years. Suddenly, the Jets look like a respectable product on both sides of the ball, and there’s an energy around Glenn that simply hasn’t been there for this franchise in who knows how long.

"I am not into moral victories" pic.twitter.com/gNxGpECjvz
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 7, 2025

On the other hand, the Jets have a couple of roster holes that were glaringly apparent on Sunday amid the awesome overall showing. Looking ahead to the NFL trade deadline on November 4, New York’s general manager, Darren Mougey, might want to consider going out and dealing for a player at either of the following two positions. Free agency is always an option, too.

Two areas of positional weakness for the Jets to address via trade

Cornerback

The Jets might feel that they have 36 million reasons to keep giving Brandon Stephens the benefit of the doubt at starting cornerback, but Sunday was not a good start to his Jets tenure. Stephens looked overmatched all day long, and some people are already looking over at rookie corner Azareye’h Thomas as a guy who could replace Stephens sooner than expected.

It’s said that the loneliest island for a cornerback is to be playing on the opposite side of an All-Pro, elite talent like Sauce Gardner. Opposing offenses are going to attack any corner the Jets throw out there not named Sauce, which means that this player has to be very solid. Gardner didn’t allow a single catch on Sunday beyond the miraculous reception hauled in by DK Metcalf that tipped off the hands of maybe four players (the play was well-defended by Gardner).

"We don't like moral victories. I'm a sore loser, moral victories breed losing"

- Sauce Gardner pic.twitter.com/cALtJX2MZ9
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) September 7, 2025

But despite Sauce’s greatness, the Jets’ secondary was still picked apart by Aaron Rodgers and a Pittsburgh Steelers passing game that had plenty of Jets weak spots to choose from.

New York should improve its secondary — either through trade or free agency — if the Jets want to maximize their win total in 2025. A more competent secondary on Sunday probably would have tipped the scales for New York, and they’d be looking at an epic 1-0 start to the Glenn era.

Wide Receiver

It’s impressive that Garrett Wilson was able to haul in seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, because the Steelers didn’t have much reason to focus on any of New York’s other pass catchers.

The Jets are going to be a run-heavy offense, and so going out and spending on another wideout seemed like a waste heading into the season, but Justin Fields really impressed with his arm on Sunday. The Jets aren’t suddenly going to make Fields a traditional pocket passer, but their aerial attack might end up having a higher ceiling than expected.

A quality WR2 would go a long way toward making that a reality. Perhaps the Jets feel like they have one within their locker room already, and so be it; it’s only Week 2, and maybe someone will emerge. But as of right now, it’s an area of weakness for Gang Green that could be remedied with a savvy trade.

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