Sauce Gardner trade exposes painful truth about Jets cornerback room

The New York Jets may have expected their secondary to handle the trade of Sauce Gardner by reforging a new identity around offseason signing Brandon Stephens, but the secondary's performance against Drake Maye and the rival New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football only made more questions arise.

The Jets' plan for a secondary led by Stephens, rookie Azareye'h Thomas, and slot stud Jarvis Brownlee Jr. has fallen at their first very steep hurdle, as the challenge posed by Stefon Diggs and this Patriots passing attack has proven to be too great.

Not only has the normally terrific Brownlee looked a bit off in the last few games and Thomas suffered a concussion that ruled him out for Thursday Night, but Stephens' brief period as one of Pro Football Focus' darlings of the defensive backfield appears to be over.

Stephens found himself on the losing end of some brutal roastings from Diggs and other Patriots receivers, all as Maye galvanted his way to close to 300 total yards in the Patriots' victory. Losing Gardner has confirmed that Stephens can be a picture-perfect No. 2 corner, but he can't be Aaron Glenn's No. 1 corner.

Jets learned Brandon Stephens is not a CB1 after Sauce Gardner trade

Stephens struggled mightily in the first few games of the season, but he seemed to find a groove in the middle of the year. His size and speed are still apparent, and he remains one of the better tackling corners on a team that has lacked proficiency in that area from its DBs for quite some time.

Of course, it is much easier to take on No. 2 wide receivers in man coverage instead of top No. 1 targets, and Stephens found that out in the New England game. With Brownlee starting to come back to the middle of the pack after his hot start, Stephens' struggles have been magnified.

The Jets can remedy this by turning Thomas into a high-end starter and possibly changing the scheme to something that isn't Steve Wilks' extremely outdated plan of attack. Unfortunately, this fanbase is going to have to sit through some really nauseating performances in the remainder of the 2025 season.

The Jets may have proven many of the doubters wrong by turning Stephens into a respectable player after he left the Baltimore Ravens, but anyone hoping that he evolved enough to even sniff Gardner's tier as a pure cover corner is in for a rude awakening.