Sauce Gardner echoes NY Jets fans' thoughts on foolish offseason trade

The NY Jets' decision to trade standout defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers last offseason received significant criticism at the time, and with the benefit of hindsight, that move proved to be one of the most disastrous the organization has made in years — and that's saying something.

Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner seems to feel the same way. Franklin-Myers shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday that showed he ranked in the top five among all interior defensive linemen in 1-on-1 pressure rate.

JFM's 14.1 pressure rate in 1-on-1 matchups trailed only Chris Jones, Quinnen Williams, Jarran Reed, and Dexter Lawrence, as the former Jets defensive lineman put together arguably the best season of his career in 2024.

Gardner and Jets fans were left wondering what could've been. In fact, that's exactly what Gardner said in response to Franklin-Myers' post.

Sauce Gardner regrets the NY Jets making the John Franklin-Myers trade

The Franklin-Myers trade made little sense at the time and looks even worse after the disappointing performance of the team's defensive line in 2024. The complete decimation of the Jets' defensive line can at least somewhat be traced back to this decision.

The Jets attempted to pedal the excuse that trading Franklin-Myers was necessary for salary cap purposes, but that just wasn't true. Franklin-Myers would restructure his contract upon being traded to the Denver Broncos for an average salary of just $7.5 million.

His cap hit in 2024 was only $5 million while his $10 million cap hit in 2025 is also very affordable. That restructure also includes a $3 million out after the first season. Franklin-Myers has been very vocal in saying that the Jets never even approached him about a restructure.

The Jets literally spent more money on Javon Kinlaw in 2024 than they would have if they restructured Franklin-Myers and kept him around. It's safe to say they wish they made that decision.

Franklin-Myers finished the 2024 season as Pro Football Focus' No. 6 ranked interior defensive lineman out of the 106 qualifiers to play at least 300 snaps. His 84.3 PFF pass-rush grade ranked fourth among all players at his position.

The counting stats were there too. Franklin-Myers was credited with eight sacks and 53 total pressures by PFF, and it's not like those numbers were an anomaly. Franklin-Myers recorded at least 50 pressures in every season with the Jets and had seven sacks in 2022.

The Jets instead decided to rely on Micheal Clemons to fill JFM's role in 2024. Clemons finished with an abysmal 50.6 PFF grade (including a 46.6 run defense grade) and recorded just 23 total pressures. Franklin-Myers played at a Pro Bowl level while Clemons was a liability.

The Jets completely destroyed their defensive line with a series of misguided offseason moves, but none were as blatant as the John Franklin-Myers trade. It seems Sauce Gardner agrees with that sentiment.

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