The New York Jets were one of the most active teams ahead of the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline as they made a pair of moves. They traded away cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts while also dealing defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys. While both moves came as a bit of a surprise, the reason the New York Jets traded away Williams has been revealed.
Let’s take a closer look into the trade and why they decided now was time for the move to happen.
Why the New York Jets Traded Away Quinnen Williams
While speaking on the ‘Jets Final Drive’, SNY NFL reporter Connor Hughes reported that Quinnen Williams requested a trade from the New York Jets three different times before today’s trade.
“Quinnen Williams’ relationship with the Jets has been deteriorating, and this goes all the way back to when they made the decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers. That’s when things started to change. When Aaron Glenn was then very critical of Quinnen Williams in a 1-on-1 meeting and critical of him publicly to us, that is when things truly began to spiral. He let the Jets know he had zero plans to extend…he had stressed to the Jets that he wanted to rework his deal. The Jets rebuffed that.”
Quinnen Williams was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick (better of theirs and Green Bay’s), and defensive tackle Mazi Smith. Williams has 2.5 years remaining on his four-year, $96 million extension and will not be a free agent until the 2028 season.
It will be interesting to see how the three-time Pro Bowler looks with the Cowboys going forward and what those draft picks wind up being.
