The 2025 NFL trade deadline predictably came and went on November 4 with major moves across the league. While teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts were among the most notable buyers, it’s because they made their splashes at the expense of the New York Jets’ immediate hopes of winning football games.
That was the plan for Jets GM Darren Mougey. In his first year on the job, Mougey figured out that New York is more than just a few offensive pieces away from contending and acted accordingly.
Ipso facto, he cut bait with Quinnen Williams, shipping the defensive tackle to the Dallas Cowboys, and traded the highest-paid cornerback in the league, Sauce Gardner, to the Indianapolis Colts in the deadline’s biggest blockbuster, bottoming out a defense that was too good for where this team’s tank plans are. It was a shock that the Jets didn’t deal running back Breece Hall or Quinnen’s brother, linebacker Quincy Williams, too.
What’s also a shock is that New York didn’t become that sizable of an underdog against the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium in Week 10. As CBS Sports’ Brandon Gustafson explained, rookie Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel is perhaps the main reason the odds didn’t shift more dramatically in Cleveland’s direction.
“The Jets are just 1-7 in Aaron Glenn’s first year as head coach, and they traded their two best defenders away at the deadline for future draft picks. Cornerback Sauce Garnder is now in Indianapolis in exchange for two first-round selections and a receiver, and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams is now a Cowboys while New York acquired a first-round pick, second-round pick and a defensive tackle,” Gustafson wrote.
“Naturally, the line has shifted away from the Jets, as they go from favored to 1.5-point underdogs. The main reason it didn’t shift more is they play a lowly Browns team that is starting a rookie quarterback and is also among the worst teams in football this season.”
With Aaron Glenn and Steve Wilkes making changes to the defense, there’s hope that new faces could ignite a spark for a unit that’s underperformed too much in 2025 to buoy a bottom-ranked offense led by Justin Fields.
Clearly, there’s no hope for the Browns, who don’t inspire enough confidence under center with Gabriel to have oddsmakers thinking they are the clear favorites against a Jets roster that’s been stripped to the bone.
