In a dramatic turn of events on Monday afternoon, the New York Jets agreed to a trade-off that involves sending their prized quarterback Zach Wilson along with a seventh-round pick (No. 256) of this year’s draft, to the Denver Broncos.
In exchange, the Jets received the Broncos’ sixth-round pick (No. 203). This transition brings to a close Wilson’s three-year stint in New York, which unfortunately, was marred by multiple on-field issues.
Despite being the influential No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, Wilson’s performance failed to match up to his initial hype.
Over the course of three seasons, he registered a QBR (Quarterback Rating) of just 34.1. In 2023, he slipped into a backup role, after relieving seasoned player Aaron Rodgers.
Wilson’s stay with the Jets tainted his career stats. Over 33 starts in three seasons, his completion percentage was at a negative, falling 6% below the expected benchmark, as gathered from NFL Next Gen Stats.
The silver lining, however, is a slight improvement in his completion percentage, which was only minus-1% in 2023.
On basic counts, Wilson performed disappointingly. He never scored more than 10 passing touchdowns in any season and averaged a mere 5.1 yards for each dropback over three years.
This positions him second from the bottom, ahead only of Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers. In addition, Wilson experienced a high 10% sack rate.
An interesting aspect of the Wilson trade is the division of his 2024 compensation. Both the Jets and the Broncos will shoulder an equal burden, each contributing $2.75 million.
While the Jets didn’t gain much from the release of their earlier No. 2 pick, the arrangement saved them money they would have otherwise lost had they chosen to cut Wilson from the team outright.
