NY Jets: Marcus Maye and a few others who could be traded at the deadline

It's always darkest before the dawn. A week ago, here on The Jet Press, I wrote about how the feeling was that things would get a lot darker for the NY Jets before there would be any hint of light on the team's horizon.

Welcome to the darkest period of Jets fandom. Three weeks into the NFL season, the 0-3 Jets are already out of contention, and the franchise's residence at the rock bottom of the league remains intact.

It's an all-too-familiar feeling surrounding the Jets franchise. One that's not going to be washed away so quickly.

It's inevitable. This season, the Jets will match their longest playoff drought from 1970 to 1980 — 11 straight years without a playoff berth. When the 2021 season ends, the tombstone will read 2011-2021 — a long period of nothingness for the New York Jets.

Hopefully, that's the end of the fan base's suffering. But until positive signs emerge suggesting otherwise, it might not be.

The expectations were low coming into this year for even the most ardent supporters of the franchise, but the feeling was that 2021 would be a fun rebuilding process.

The hopes were that the Jets would start their climb back to relevancy by playing an endearing style of football that would match its new charismatic leader, Robert Saleh.

Through three weeks, none of that has happened. The Jets are winless, but that's not the issue.

It's the feeling of hopelessness surrounding the franchise that still remains, despite pressing a giant reset button and starting fresh. To this point, the Jets' new identity on the field looks the same as the old one.

The team's performance, combined with its misfortune to start the year, has drained a lot of the enthusiasm that surrounded the team this summer. The losses on and off the field are mounting. And one of the team's best players is praying for his exit.

It's been a rough few months for New York.

The Jets lost a vital part of their offense when Greg Knapp was tragically killed in an accident this past July. Then in August, two of the team's most critical acquisitions on defense were lost to injury in defensive end Carl Lawson and linebacker Jarrad Davis. Lawson was lost for the year.

Not to mention the loss of defensive end Vinny Curry, who was expected to provide veteran leadership on and off the field.

The hits kept coming when the regular season started with left tackle Mekhi Becton and another key free-agent acquisition in safety Lamarcus Joyner going down in Week 1. Now, franchise-tagged safety Marcus Maye is out for 3-4 weeks.

Many of the figures mentioned in the above paragraph were supposed to be leaders who helped forge the Jets' new identity. Players like Becton still can in 2021, when he recovers from his knee injury. Lawson, if he can get back to full strength, will a year from now.

But players like Marcus Maye are living their last days as a member of the green and white. He may never put on a Jets uniform again.

The Jets are definitely rebuilding, but it's an ongoing process that is still in its earliest infancy. There is still some unfinished business in regards to completing the process.

Because of their poor standing, the Jets will be prominent sellers on the trade market. And as a result, many veteran players like Maye, who are not expected back with the team in 2022, will be on the chopping block.

Let's look at the Maye situation as mentioned above first and other veteran players, the Jets could trade before the deadline on November 2nd.

1. Marcus Maye, S, NY Jets

It's what Marcus Maye and his agent Erik Burkhardt want. An exit out of New York and a new long-term contract. Maye is not going to get that here with the Jets.

This movie sounds way too familiar for Jets fans. A star safety tired of losing, who is looking to abandon ship. But if we are being honest, this ending was spoiled a long time ago when Joe Douglas didn't bend to meet Maye's contractual demands.

Maye, like Jamal Adams, once he gets healthy, could get what he wants. And that's Douglas trading him before the deadline, provided that two things happen.

Firstly, a team meets the proper compensation for Maye. New York won't give Maye away for nothing. And the second hurdle might be a team's willingness to extend Marcus Maye now.

Hypothetically, if a team like the Dallas Cowboys wanted Maye, they would be hesitant to give up a valuable draft choice for a player they don't have locked in for the 2022 season and beyond.

Teams are less apt to part with a second or third-round pick if the player they receive is a rental for half a season.

Reading the tea leaves on this one since Maye was franchised at the start of free agency, his agent knows what teams were willing to give his client a long-term deal in free agency if the Jets hadn't given Maye the franchise tag.

So it's reasonable to assume that one or more suitors are out there hoping to land the 28-year old safety.

The main issue with a Maye trade, besides the financial and trade compensation, is making it work from a cap perspective.

Joe Douglas and the Jets might have to get creative to make a deal happen if a team is willing to employ a faith-based one-year rental with Maye.

A contending team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have a hard time fitting Maye under their cap. Jets owner Woody Johnson might have to pick up the tab.

Any team that wants to lock up Maye long-term immediately will have a challenging time doing so now. Maye is commanding Jamal Adams/Justin Simmons type money.

He is looking to be one of the highest-paid safeties in all of football. Finding a team that is willing and can do that now will be difficult.

It's disheartening to see another quality homegrown player on the Jets be shown the door before a second contract is realized. But it's the reality of the acrimony between Maye and the team that drafted him.

There is no tomorrow for the Jets and Marcus Maye. The Jets don't want him back, not at his asking price, and Maye doesn't want to be with the team anymore.

You know things are bad for your football team when a player and his agent are celebrating getting injured. The 2020 Jets MVP and team captain wants to abandon the ship.

2. Jamison Crowder, WR, NY Jets

A lot like the Marcus Maye situation, this one also seems inevitable. Jamison Crowder will not be back with the New York Jets in 2022.

And although, the established veteran slot receiver could be helpful as a safety net for rookie QB Zach Wilson, it's likely that if a team makes the right offer to Douglas, that New York will ship Crowder away.

There are some people close to the Jets organization that have floated the possibility that Crowder has been held out of the team's first three games, specifically because the team has been looking to deal him.

Conspiracy theories aside, Crowder is one of the few players on the Jets who would bring value to several NFL offenses. The reliable and respected veteran is one of the most underrated slot receivers in the league, who also provides added value as a punt returner.

Contending teams like the Denver Broncos or the San Francisco 49ers could be interested in adding Crowder as a complementary piece to their passing attacks.

Denver, in particular, has suffered injuries at receiver and could use an inside weapon to complement their big-play receivers on the outside.

The question, as always, will be the level of compensation and value.

Many followers of the Jets will suggest not trading prominent players for anything less than a third-round pick based on the compensatory pick formula. But the problem with that is two-fold.

Firstly, any compensatory selections awarded are not until a year later. And most importantly, the Jets figure to be significant spenders in free agency. So meeting the formula necessary in terms of losses versus gains in free agency is very unlikely.

A reasonable asking price for Crowder's services is what will facilitate a deal happening in the first place. And with Crowder due for free agency at the end of the year, despite him being a valuable presence on the field and off, I wouldn't expect the Jets to get a lot in return for him.

The question then becomes, does Jamison Crowder have more value to the Jets playing for them this year than a Day 3 pick would have in 2022? Based on how poorly, the Jets receivers have played with Zach Wilson, the answer is probably yes.

3. The NY Jets could trade away other veterans on one-year deals

When you have the NFL's youngest roster like the Jets do and a lot of unproven players, you don't have very many tradeable assets. Marcus Maye and Jamison Crowder certainly are proven commodities. Many of the Jets' other players are not.

All-Pro caliber players like linebacker C.J. Mosley also have great value. But in the case of Mosley, making a deal work from a cap perspective would be next to impossible. It's doable in the future, but the likelihood that it will happen now is not realistic.

It's much easier to move players that are on one-year deals like veteran right tackle Morgan Moses. Especially if the Jets determine that Moses is not in their long-term plans, getting any trade assets for a proven starting tackle like Moses would probably suffice.

Provided that left tackle Mekhi Becton returns healthy from his knee injury, Moses could be dealt away if a team comes knocking for veteran aid on the offensive line.

The Jets have George Fant under contract for the 2022 season. Moses is not. And quite frankly, it's increasingly likely that New York will be in the market for an offensive tackle in the 2022 NFL Draft.

So getting something for the 30-year old Moses in November makes sense, as opposed to just letting him walk at the end of the year.

Moses is not alone in this possibility. The Jets might have to make the same determination on other players on one-year deals like wide receiver Keelan Cole. Will the Jets bring back Cole on a new contract next year? The answer could be determined by how he plays in the next month.

Lamarcus Joyner could've also been a candidate for a potential trade if it weren't for his season-ending injury. At 31-years old on a one-year deal, Joyner would've been a candidate to be moved.

There's no guarantee that he's back with the Jets in 2022. Joyner's Week 1 debut for Gang Green might be a grand opening, grand closing situation.

There are three defensive linemen on the Jets, who would have a great value on the trade market. One of them is Sheldon Rankins, but he is signed to a two-year deal that expires at the end of the 2022 season.

Rankins is one of the league's better interior pass rushers, but his history with injuries might be a deterrent for potential suitors.

The other two defensive linemen who the Jets could hypothetically shop that would throw its fanbase into a frenzy are John Franklin-Myers and current team captain Folorunso Fatukasi. Both players are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in 2022.

Joe Douglas should do the right thing and lock both Fatukasi and Franklin-Myers up long term.

But based on recent evidence and the fact that the team will presumably one day extend Quinnen Williams to a monster deal, it's possible that if a team comes calling for either player, that Douglas won't hang up the phone.

The Jets will not be busy winning games or competing for the playoffs this year. But Joe Douglas will be busy working the phones to pick up assets for what has the chance to be his final draft with the Jets in 2022 unless things improve.

Three straight two-win type seasons will not save Douglas. New York has to start showing progress at some point.

Sooner or later, the Jets will finally see light at the end of their tunnel. But it won't happen until the team finds, develops, and keeps quality players for the long haul.

The rebuilding phase continues....again.