Aaron Glenn’s new message to Jets players and fans after trade deadline selloff

Jets coach Aaron Glenn said before the season that he wanted to field a team that fans could be proud of.

Apparently that plan has been delayed.

Glenn was asked Wednesday about his message to the fans after the team traded away stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams on Tuesday. He reiterated what he said about wanting the fans to be proud, but with an interesting addendum.

“I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. But again, I never said that they were going to be proud of them right now,” Glenn said. “At some point I want this to be a team that the fans are proud of. I still stick with that. I will still say that. This is a team that the fans will be proud of.”

This was a much different timeline than what Glenn presented before the season and a hard one to swallow for Jets fans who have been waiting 15 years for a playoff berth. He was asked before Week 1 how he would define a successful season.

“What would define a successful season? I want to be a team to where the fans will look and say we’re proud of that team,” Glenn said on Sept. 2. “And if they say that, I’ll be happy. I’ll be happy, because within that, I know that wins will come.”

Glenn’s message about delaying fielding a team that fans could be proud of was consistent with the team’s actions at the trade deadline. The Jets punted on the present with an eye on the future. They received three first-round picks and a second-round pick in exchange for Gardner and Williams, a nice haul that sets the Jets up in the 2026 and 2027 offseasons.

But the Jets still have nine games left this season. Glenn said he told his players that the NFL is a league of change but the mission remains the same and they want to win games this year, starting Sunday against the Browns.

“We won a game last week with Sauce not there,” Glenn said. “We know how good of a player he is. We know how good of a player Quinnen is. But man, we’re moving forward. We have a good amount of draft capital that we’re looking forward to. When that time comes, we’ll handle that.”

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The Jets are 1-7 and going nowhere this season but it has to be a tough message for the locker room that the team traded away two of its best players.

Jets players in the locker room expressed surprise at the trades but mostly said it was part of the business and they had to move on.

“I was surprised,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “It’s one thing that sucks being in this league when you build bonds in locker rooms with guys and then the next day they leave. It’s a thing that happens every year. You’re surprised but not at the same time.”

Glenn has praised Williams and Gardner repeatedly since he took the Jets job in January. After the team signed Gardner to an extension in July, Glenn called Gardner a foundational player he wanted to be here for a long time. What changed?

“Opportunity,” Glenn said. “No one goes into this thing to try to get rid of players, especially good players like that. But when these things come across your table and you sit there and you talk about it and you get the type of compensation that you get, man you really have to think about it.”

General manager Darren Mougey was the one working the phones, but Glenn was heavily involved in the trade discussions.

“It was a pretty intense day,” Glenn said. “When the opportunity presents itself for us to be able to build this team, it’s hard to pass it up. Those two guys are great players. We all know that, all-pro players. The one constant in this league is change. I’ve said that to all our players not just today, but throughout this season. This is a fluid game, fellas. Players come and go. Coaches come and go. The one thing that I do know is with change comes opportunity.”