A former Jets star could help unlock a trade for high-upside pass rusher

The New York Jets could use help at edge rusher going into the 2025 season. With Jermaine Johnson returning from a torn Achilles and Will McDonald still developing as a true three-down defender, the team’s pass rush depth is one rolled ankle away from a potential crisis.

One player the Jets could target to address that need is Yetur Gross-Matos. Gross-Matos is a former second-round pick who quietly posted 4.5 sacks for the 49ers last season and now finds himself buried on the depth chart after San Francisco acquired Bryce Huff from the Eagles.

Yes, that means it's Huff — the Jets' own former star pass rusher — who might have just made Gross-Matos expendable enough for New York to pounce.

At just 27 years old, Gross-Matos fits the exact profile the Jets have been targeting this offseason. He's a low-cost, still-young flier with untapped potential.

Add in his connection to Steve Wilks, his former defensive coordinator and interim head coach in Carolina, and now the Jets’ DC, and the potential for an under-the-radar trade starts to make a whole lot of sense.

The NY Jets should consider Yetur Gross-Matos as a trade target

It’s no secret the Jets have questions at defensive end. Johnson broke out in 2023 with a Pro Bowl season but played just two games last year before tearing his Achilles. He’s expected to be ready for Week 1, but edge rushers historically struggle to regain peak explosiveness in their first season back from that injury.

Meanwhile, McDonald showed real promise in Johnson’s absence, racking up 10.5 sacks in his second year. But while McDonald’s pass-rush abilities were undeniable, his run defense was a glaring liability. The Jets are banking on the 15 pounds he added this offseason helping him develop into a more complete player, but that’s no guarantee.

Behind those two, the options are thin. Micheal Clemons is a fringe roster player currently penciled in as the top backup. Rookie Tyler Baron, a fifth-round pick out of Miami, brings long-term upside but is far from a Day 1 contributor.

Undrafted holdovers like Eric Watts and Braiden McGregor have yet to show much, and Rashad Weaver, a free-agent flier, had a strong spring but hasn’t recorded a sack since 2022. That’s a precarious setup for a team that likely wants to rotate edge rushers and stay aggressive up front.

That’s where Gross-Matos comes in. A former second-round pick by Carolina in 2020, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound pass rusher signed a two-year deal with the 49ers in the 2024 offseason. He recorded 4.5 sacks in his first year with San Francisco, though three of those came in a single game in December.

Still, he's been productive when healthy, earning a 65.2 pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus with the Panthers in 2023 across just 12 games before a hamstring injury cut his season short.

Gross-Matos has flashed potential for years but never quite put it all together, and now finds himself on the wrong side of a roster crunch after the 49ers traded for Huff earlier this month.

Huff’s arrival pushes Gross-Matos down the pecking order, and his name has already surfaced in trade speculation, including in a piece from Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport identifying him as a likely candidate to be moved. Some have even floated him as a possible cut.

That makes this a classic low-risk, high-reward opportunity. The Jets have been targeting that archetype all offseason — young, inexpensive players with traits worth betting on. Gross-Matos checks every box.

He’s still just 27, carries a manageable cap hit, and would be reunited with Wilks. If anyone can unlock what’s left in Gross-Matos, it might be Wilks.

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