Insider offers big trade update on Jets' Garrett Wilson

NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY didn't dance around the topic when asked for a mailbag published on Friday if New York Jets star wide receiver Garrett Wilson could seek or even demand a trade sooner rather than later. 

"Yes," Hughes directly answered. "...(Wilson) wants to win more than any player I have ever covered. He treats every loss like an indictment on his character and ability...There was a game this year where I legitimately thought he might tear up when reflecting what’s gone wrong. The way he talked on baggie day was an accurate reflection of where he stands: What’s so easy for others shouldn’t be so hard for the Jets. Frustration is at a boiling point." 

Wilson repeatedly refused to hide his frustrations while speaking about matters such as the awful playing surface found at MetLife Stadium and a Jets offense that routinely failed the team's defense across his second NFL season. While the 23-year-old earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors for the 2022 campaign, Hughes noted that Jets head coach Robert Saleh, general manager Joe Douglas and owner Woody Johnson "should absolutely be concerned about what another year of losing will do to Wilson." 

As Hughes mentioned, the good news for Jets fans is that the team holds Wilson's right through the 2026 season via the fifth-year option attached to his rookie contract. New York could also use the franchise tag to hold onto Wilson in 2027 and again in 2028. 

"Still, you don’t want your best players wanting out," Hughes added. "You get the sense Wilson is dangerously close to having enough of this." 

Hughes' final point is interesting considering Wilson warned after the Jets went 7-10 for a second consecutive campaign that "what happened this season can't happen again." That was before Johnson publicly threw backup quarterback Zach Wilson under the bus and before the owner declined to shut down talk suggesting that QB1 Aaron Rodgers is essentially making personnel decisions for the franchise. 

Rodgers going down with a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the season proved to be the beginning of the 2023 Jets' downfall. If such an occurrence happens again this coming September, Garrett Wilson could understandably make things uncomfortable for Johnson and company by January 2025.