It’s a matter of when not if Zach Wilson will be traded away by the New York Jets this offseason.
General manager Joe Douglas confirmed that during his media availability at the NFL Combine.
“We have given them [Wilson and his agent] permission to talk to other teams about a trade. I’m going to circle back [with his agent] at some point this week or next week just to see how those conversations go,” Douglas revealed.
#Jets GM Joe Douglas revealed that they have given QB Zach Wilson & his representation permission to seek a trade.
A necessary next step in moving Wilson to a new squad: find teams that are interested, bring them to NYJ, hammer out compensation.
🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/0ResMateqp
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 28, 2024
Greg Tompsett who covers the Buffalo Bills for Cover-1 admitted that he would give up “a day 3 pick” to the Jets for Wilson. However only if the team “ate” the $4.3 million roster bonus that is due to him around training camp this summer.
The acquiring team will take on $5.4M in guaranteed salary & roster bonus (due at Training camp). Unless NYJ pay that $4.3M roster bonus, I’ll be surprised if they find a buyer
IF they ate it, I’d give a day 3 pick to have Wilson as BUF’s backup for $1.055M salary https://t.co/uau1S7aDou
— Greg Cover 1 🏈 (@GregTompsett) February 28, 2024
Another Surprise Team Could Enter the Mix From the AFC East
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic dropped a story on Thursday, February 29 revealing which teams could be interested in a Wilson trade.
Perhaps the most surprising name on the list was the New England Patriots.
“New England had his number the last few years, but Bill Belichick isn’t around anymore, and they need quarterbacks,” Rosenblatt wrote.
In total Rosenblatt came up with 13 potential landing spots that “make varying degrees of sense.”
The one he said is the “most intriguing” from Wilson’s perspective would be the Minnesota Vikings.
“Kirk Cousins is a free agent, and Minnesota doesn’t have any young quarterbacks on the roster worth developing,” Rosenblatt explained. “In addition, quarterback-friendly coach (Kevin O’Connell) has a proven history of putting his QBs in position to succeed. This is the most intriguing potential destination.”
Insider Reveals the True Details With the Wilson-Jets Trade Dynamic
Douglas made the NFL news cycle on Wednesday, February 28 when he announced publically that Wilson was granted permission to seek a trade.
However, Brian Costello of the New York Post told me on “The Boy Green Show” that it actually “happened right after the season. This isn’t a recent development.”
Coz told me that he reported it previously but apparently, it didn’t pick up traction on social media.
#Jets GM Joe Douglas made headlines yesterday when he announced that permission was granted to Zach Wilson & his camp to seek a trade.
HOWEVER… @BrianCoz told me, ‘it happened right after the season. This isn’t a recent development.’ #TakeFlight
LINK:… pic.twitter.com/g0ZrODR4pQ
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) February 29, 2024
Costello explained that the Jets are doing Wilson a solid with this move.
“Joe Douglas isn’t going to call 31 teams about Zach Wilson when the agent can seek it out. I think he is doing something right by the player. Let him try to find the situation he wants the best,” he told me on the show.
Here is how the process will work.
Wilson and his camp were granted permission to seek a trade. Over the last several weeks, they have been talking to teams to gauge interest in a potential deal. Once they have a finalized list of interested teams, the agent will present those to Douglas. At that point, JD and the teams will attempt to negotiate compensation for a potential trade.
“How many takers Zach is going to have? I’m questionable about,” Coz admitted.
However when I spoke to Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic a few weeks ago on “The Boy Green Show” he expressed strong confidence that the Jets “will get something for him.”
