Chiefs, 49ers Were Interested in Trading for Jets' Garrett Wilson

According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers were interested in trading for New York Jets WR Garrett Wilson. 

The Jets didn't trade Wilson, who is under contract through 2030.

Wilson has 43 catches for 527 yards and three touchdowns this season. The Jets are 2-7 and will miss the playoffs again. The franchise hasn't made the postseason since 2010.

An Ohio state product, Wilson was the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He has 358 receptions for 4,171 yards and 21 touchdowns with the Jets. 

Wilson won the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year award. 

Will McDonald IV wanted more playing time and he asked the Jets to trade him. A day after the deadline, he was still a Jet. He spoke with reporters at his locker on Wednesday and wasn't happy. 

“I just want to clear everything up, you know,” McDonald said, according to The Associated Press. “There’s no hard feelings with the coaches and staff or anybody here. I just want to play and I just want to help the team win.”

Asked why he requested the trade, McDonald said it came down to not playing.

McDonald played 66% of New York's defensive snaps in each of the past two seasons. This year, he's at 46% through nine games, the team's website noted Wednesday. He has three sacks, down from 10.5 in 2024 and eight last year.

The Jets switched to a 3-4 defense this season. They signed Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare in free agency and drafted David Bailey with the second overall pick. Ossai is injured. McDonald played 23 snaps in Sunday's 35-12 loss at Kansas City.

The frustration had been building for weeks, and McDonald had been telling the coaching staff, a source told ESPN. The request became public Monday.

“It is quite frustrating, but you know, it is what it is,” McDonald said Wednesday.

Other teams showed interest before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline, sources told ESPN. The Jets kept him anyway. He is signed through 2027.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn met with McDonald for an hour on Saturday. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that the coach said McDonald had “earned” a bigger role.

Glenn repeated what he said Monday, telling reporters the Jets would “stand pat” at the deadline.

“I was very on point when I said, ‘Listen, we’re not trading Will,’” Glenn said, per the team’s website. “Will’s a huge part of what we’re doing. It’s my job to make sure that I continue to put him in positions to help this team be successful. Obviously, there’s some things he needs to improve on.”

Jets X-Factor’s Michael Nania graded the deadline Wednesday, and keeping McDonald got an F+. Nania’s grade stands even if the offers for McDonald were smaller. He saved his harshest verdict, an F, for the scenario the New York Post reported: a second-round pick offered for McDonald and turned down. That offer has not been confirmed.

ESPN’s pre-deadline estimate of McDonald’s value was a fourth- or fifth-round pick.

The Jets' one trade earned a B+ from Nania. On Monday, they sent safety Andre Cisco to the Detroit Lions for a sixth-round pick. Initial reports, including ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s, listed the pick as a 2028 selection. Nania has it in 2029.

Cisco, 26, was in the final year of his contract and was benched in Sunday’s 35-12 loss to Kansas City, Jets Wire reported. Detroit was 6-2. Jets Roundtable had the trade Monday.

Nania gave the Jets an A for keeping quarterback Geno Smith. Minnesota reportedly called about Smith before the Vikings sent a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for Kirk Cousins.

Nothing else happened. Running back Breece Hall and Wilson stayed and The Jet Press reported that nothing came together for cornerback Nahshon Wright.

Glenn is 5-21 as head coach. The 2-7 Jets host the Buffalo Bills, who are 7-1, on Sunday.