The Denver Broncos made multiple trades with the New York Jets in the 2024 offseason. The Broncos were able to snag quarterback Zach Wilson in exchange for a late-round pick shortly before the 2024 NFL Draft, and then they added starting defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers on Day 3 of the 2024 Draft itself. But there was another blockbuster trade with the Jets that almost got made earlier in the offseason, and you might have a hard time believing why it was nixed...
According to Dianna Russini, the Broncos and Jets were close to consummating a deal for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, but Jets owner Woody Johnson nixed the trade because of Jeudy's overall rating in the Madden video game.
No, seriously...
Broncos-Jets trade for WR Jerry Jeudy was nixed due to Jeudy's Madden rating
Woody Johnson nixed a trade for Jerry Jeudy last offseason because he felt his Madden rating was too low.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) December 19, 2024
Sources describe his impulsive over-involvement as the root of the Jets' dysfunction.
More, with @ZackBlatt and @MikeSilver, and me: https://t.co/OYf5plIVHM pic.twitter.com/uYHCKAMCFX
The Jets fired general manager Joe Douglas this year after they fired head coach Robert Saleh. They have been slowly cleaning house with how disappointing the team has been since the acquisition of Aaron Rodgers, and obviously Douglas is not going to allow the stuff that went on behind the scenes to stay hidden now that the Jets have made a spectacle of him by firing him.
At least, you assume this nugget of info is coming directly from Douglas.
The Broncos, of course, pivoted to trading Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns, where he just eclipsed 1,000 yards for the first time in his five-year NFL career.
Obviously, the decision not to trade for Jeudy was ill-advised on the part of the Jets, although it wasn't the general manager who got cold feet. It was the guy with the ultimate trump card in the organization, the guy allegedly Googling Madden ratings to determine if a player was worth trading for or not.
You've got to sympathize at least a little for Jets fans who are having to endure this kind of incompetence from the top down of the organization. This report is coming on the heels of reports that the Jets are consulting The 33rd Team -- a media publication with some former NFL employees on their staff -- for their general manager search.
Honestly, the idea of the Jets consulting a media company for their head coach and general manager searches makes the report and idea of Woody Johnson nixing a Jerry Jeudy trade over a Madden rating even more believable. The guy clearly doesn't know what he's doing and his team losing has caused him to overstep his bounds when it comes to allowing the football people to make football decisions.
The owners that meddle too much with the football side of things in the NFL are typically the ones whose teams are not experiencing a lot of success. There are rare exceptions, but owners in the NFL should be hiring specifically trained professionals to make football decisions. And Woody Johnson is making his decisions based on the opinions of people who have been fired by NFL teams (for valid reasons) along with Madden ratings, of which former NFL receiver Chad Johnson is a notable asset.
I blame 😂 @ochocinco
— Jerry Jeudy⁴ (@jerryjeudy) December 19, 2024
It's a great reminder to Broncos Country to be thankful each day for the Walton-Penner ownership group.