Either of the Jets' Tuesday trades, of CB Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and DL Quinnen Williams to Dallas, certainly fits the definition of a word many football observers are using on NFL trade deadline day — "Blockbuster." Either one is not the first such colossal trade of a Green & White player for a huge haul of draft capital in franchise history.
But taken together, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, has to be considered the biggest day of players-for-picks trading in franchise history.
And in the particulars of the two trades of former first-round draft choices — Gardner to the Colts for two first-round picks (in 2026 and '27) and WR Adonai Marshall, then Williams to the Cowboys for a first-rounder ('27) and a second-rounder ('26) — the Jets, including their own Round 1 picks in the next two drafts, are now set up with five first-rounders in the next two drafts combined.
The most recent such monster trade before Tuesday happened a bit more than five years ago, when the Jets on July 25, 2020, sent former No. 1 selection S Jamal Adams to Seattle (plus a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft) to Seattle for two first-rounders and a Round 3 choice (plus S Bradley McDougald).
The second of those first-rounders was the 10th pick of the '22 draft, and that became Ohio State wideout Garrett Wilson, the recently re-signed and highly productive WR1 for the last four seasons.
The first first-rounder in that deal, 23rd overall in 2021, was part of a draft-picks package sent to Minnesota for first- and fourth-round picks in the '21 draft. And that first-rounder, 14th overall, became versatile, talented Jets OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, currently out for the season on Injured Reserve.
Back-Back-Back to the 2000 Draft
Retreating a quarter century from Tuesday's dealmaking, to the weeks before the 2000 draft, the Jets executed another trade of a big-name player for two first-rounders. In that swap, they sent WR Keyshawn Johnson to Tampa Bay for the Buccaneers' two first-round picks that became DE John Abraham (13th overall) and TE Anthony Becht (27th).
Abraham and Becht were joined in that draft by Shaun Ellis and Chad Pennington to form the "Four Aces Draft" of 2000, whose 25th anniversary was recently celebrated on nyjets.com.
In between those two huge deals, there was a trade on April 21, 2013, that had lesser value in draft capital but huge significance in another superstar player. The player was, of course, CB Darrelle Revis, who eventually returned to the Jets, was inducted into their Ring of Honor in '22, and 10 years after that trade was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 2023. The team he was headed for in '13 was again Tampa Bay. This time the Bucs sent a 1 and a 4 back to the Green & White.
The first-rounder (13th overall) was used to select DL Sheldon Richardson. The fourth-rounder (104th) went toward the drafting of WR Jalen Saunders.
The Highest Pick for Multiple Picks
Perhaps one other trade measures up to the dimensions of these three mega-swaps, but that one involved only draft choices on both sides initially. When Bill Parcells arrived as the Jets' head coach and de facto general manager in 1997, he had definite ideas of what to do with the No. 1 overall pick in that draft and what kinds of players he wanted to bring to the team.
That first overall pick was traded to St. Louis, with the Rams spending it wisely on future Hall of Fame T Orlando Pace.
And for that pick, the Jets got four choices — Round 1 (sixth overall), Round 3 (67th), Round 4 (102nd) and Round 7 (207th). The only one of those four that they directly spent on a player was the fourth-rounder, on DE Terry Day. The other three were traded to continue to expand the value of that original top pick.
The sixth pick went to (sound familiar?) the Buccaneers, for a first-rounder that became LB James Farrior and a fourth-rounder that turned into RB/KR Leon Johnson The 67th was shipped to Denver for four picks (not first-rounders) that were converted into WR Dedric Ward, QB Chuck Clements, DT Jason Ferguson and RB Dustin Johnson. The 207th went to the Eagles for a veteran, DT Ronnie Dixon.
Before '97, the Jets didn't do blockbusters that landed them a pair of first-day draft selections. The closest they came was in 1971 — DE Verlon Biggs to Washington for picks in Rounds 1 (LB Mike Taylor) and 2 (traded) — and 1980 — QB Matt Robinson to Denver for a 1 (traded and later part of the '80 draft day trade for WR Lam Jones) and a 2 (RB Ralph Clayton) plus veteran QB Craig Penrose
The only other days that could be considered honorable mentions for the title of "Biggest Trade Day(s) in Jets History" would be the multiple trades before and during the '97 draft; and the period from April 12-15, 2000, which netted the picks not only for Abraham and Becht but, from San Francisco, the 12th overall pick for Shaun Ellis.
