Latest Jets news shows how excited team is about new WR Adonai Mitchell

The New York Jets pressed the big red button and detonated their roster at the NFL Trade Deadline, sending All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for a package consisting of two first-round picks and young wide receiver Adonai Mitchell.

While the picks are the main reason GM Darren Mougey decided to pull this deal off, the allure of trying to resurrect Mitchell was too strong for Mougey to pass up when dealing with Chris Ballard.

According to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Mitchell was not going to be in the original framework of the trade with the Colts. Darren Mougey pressured Indianapolis to include the former second-round pick in the deal despite his poor start to the 2025 season.

In a Jets wide receiver room that has next to nothing guaranteed beyond the fact that Garrett Wilson will enter the season as the No. 1 target in the room, the Jets think that their particular blend of schematic quirks and coaching can help Mitchell improve in areas where Indy let him down.

Jets' Darren Mougey forced Colts to include Adonai Mitchell in Sauce Gardner trade

Mitchell, who was once regarded as a possible first-round pick after a tremendous college career at Texas, was picked No. 52 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. After catching 23 passes as a rookie with (primarily) Anthony Richardson at QB, Mitchell caught just nine passes this year and was buried in a deep Colts receiver depth chart.

Mitchell needs to rehabilitate his reputation, as he threw away what would have been his first NFL touchdown by losing the football at the one-yard line in a Malachi Corley-esque fashion. However, Mitchell has legitimate 4.34 speed in a 6-2 frame, and those physical tools could make him the clear No. 2 wide receiver on the roster.

The Jets will use the remainder of the season to see if Mitchell can be a part of the offensive solution. After acquiring John Metchie III in the Michael Carter II trade and slowly increasing Arian Smith's role in the offense, and bringing Mitchell into the fold, Tanner Engstrand will be fully in experimentation mode.

Mitchell going from the high-octane Colts offense to the lowly Jets may not provide immediate returns, but Mougey wouldn't have been so stubborn on acquiring him if he didn't envision a world where he turns the clock back to his days with Texas.

If Mitchell improves, and the Jets add a No. 2 receiver in the offseason, New York may have something cooking.