This Trade Update is absolutely cooked...

We have seen a trade report that has said the New York Jets plan on trading Will McDonald, and then the next one says that they are not trading Will McDonald. Same player, same deadline, same weekend. As ESPN's Rich Cimini wrote on November 1st, that McDonald is a possible trade candidate, a former first-round pick who is now a part-time player with only two sacks and four quarterback hits this season. Then, Mike Garofalo reported that the Jets would not be trading McDonald, and Albert Breer says there is significant interest, but the Jets have not budged. So maybe McDonald stays. Fine. Cimini says that Jamie and Sherwood is not easy to trade either, so he probably stays too. But that makes the real question way more interesting than the rumor. If the Jets are keeping both guys What is the plan to get more out of them? Because at 2-6, neither one is giving them enough, and this trade update is absolutely cooked because of it. Now, obviously, this season has not went the way we wanted it to, and right now, on Calshi, the Jets have a 43% chance to win six games or more. And I do want to thank Calshi for sponsoring this video, because on Calshi, you are trading directly against other users, not the house like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no outcomes. On events across sports, politics, and even the weather, for example, the Jets are going ahead and winning six or more games this season, which is at a 43%, so if you do trade 25% on it, you would be making plus value right there, and if you are interested in trying out Calshi, click the link in the description, it's also in the pinned comment, and use code DIGESTNFL when you trade your first $25 to get $55, it's a great deal for you. It helps the channel out as well. And diving into the video on Will McDonald right here, there is a lot to look at now. Let's start with how we got here, because Will McDonald was the 15th overall pick back in the 2023 draft. In 2024, he had 10.5 sacks. Over 2024 and 2025 together, he had 18.5, so about 8 per year. Here's the problem. His snap share was 66% in each of the past two seasons, and this year it's at a 46%. And Cimini points out that Aaron Glenn said a year ago the staff would coach McDonald into an all-around force. What Cimini and all of us see now is a This is a part-time edge rusher, and one of you, it's only money, put it bluntly on our last trade video. Sherwood, McDonald, Brees, Parham, Myers, sell, sell, sell. That is the mood, but what does selling actually get you? Well, Rich Cimini says that Will McDonald could bring back a 4th or 5th round pick, and the Jets... are due to pay him a guaranteed $13.8 million in 2027. That is a day three pick for an edge rusher with 10.5 sacks two years ago. Teams know the Jets cannot ask for much, and my read is both reports can be true. Teams called, the offers were low, and the Jets said no because they didn't want to sell low on a guy who's still young. And Cimini does name one possible fit. The Atlanta Falcons. Jeff Ulbrich, the former Jets coach and defensive coordinator, is Atlanta's defensive coordinator, and Cimini says they could use an edge rusher. A coach who knows McDonald, a team with a need, and a best-case return is still a fourth or a fifth-round pick, and Cimini's read on the whole deadline is that it will not be as splashy as last year's, and that the Jets may simply stand pat. Breer also adds that the Jets like their current locker room mix and what Once this coaching staff get a chance to turn this season around, they will be fired if they don't turn it around. And I'll be honest with what that means. Standing pat only works if it comes with a plan. Otherwise, you're just doing nothing with a nicer name. And somebody also feels that way as well. Alan Gardner4672 wrote, Rebuild. Rebuild. I'm tired of rebuilding. I want competent football. Nothing less. That's the whole fanbase asking for one thing. And it's not a trade. It's keeping the players that are actually good on this team and adding other good pieces around it. So the market may say a fourth or a fifth and the Jets say, no, that's fine. Then here is what has to change on the field because they're going to need to make changes. Now. Sunday. In a devastating 38-33 loss to the Raiders, McDonald had a third down sack, a nine-yard loss that forced a punt. That puts him at three sacks and five quarterback hits this season per NFL verse. And that is the second on the team in sacks behind David Bailey's 5.5, and tied for second in quarterback hits with Kingsley and Agbayer. And Bailey does have a groin injury right now. He did not practice two days in a row last week. If he is out, the edge group is Agbayer, McDonald, and Nate Lynn. So McDonald is not a luxury. He is a big part of the depth chart right here. So here's plan number one. Give him a real job, a defined pass rush role on third down, because that is where his sack came from. He's a good third down guy and enough snaps to move that 46% back towards the 66% he had. The Jets are 2-6. They have nine games left and nothing to lose by trying a new role. That is why plan one costs them nothing. And plan number two is coaching. Glenn said last year the staff would develop it. And if the Jets keep him over a fourth-round offer, then the promise is the plan. Show us the second pass rush move. Show us the stunt with Bailey. Show us that he can learn how to stop a run in some sense. And plan three is to treat the next nine games as an audition. His money is guaranteed, so the Jets can't cut their way out. The only way to get value is production, and November production is what turns that fourth-round pick into something better by the spring if the Jets ultimately do decide we still want to move on from Will McDonald. And there is no reason to care beyond this season. The Jets franchise list has McDonald at 3.5 sacks from passing Dennis Bird for 14th in Jets history after he already passed Jordan Jenkins for 15th. Nobody talks about it because he's now a part-time player. Give him snaps, and that is a number worth chasing. What does a win look like? He gets a snap share back near 66%. He passes Bird, and the fourth round pick is not the ceiling anymore. If he does not, then that guaranteed $13.8 million is a mistake the Jets are gonna have to hold on to. So that is its own problem in itself right there. Meanwhile, Jamie and Sherwood is a completely different problem. Last year, the Jets gave him a three-year $45 million deal. That- Now is not aging well as this year. It's a little over $4 million left on his salary than a non-guaranteed $15 million in 2027 per Rich Cimini. And the non-guaranteed part does matter the most. A team that trades him and takes on that $15 million decision for next year and a player Cimini says has frustrated the organization at times. That's a lot for the buyer to swallow. And there was a lot of talk of reducing his role, but Rich Cimini did say his play has improved over the past two weeks. And our numbers agree. Sherwood has 65 tackles, second on the Jets behind Dane Belton, 67, and five tackles for loss, second to David Bailey, seven. Over his last five games, he's averaging 10 tackles against six before that, so he is improving, and the history is better than people think. The desk has him at 47 total tackles from passing C.J. Mosley for sixth in Jets history, the guy who Sherwood would end up replacing after he passed Brian Thomas for seventh. He also has a two forced fumbles, which the desk does put in the 95th percentile in the league. A tackle-worthy linebacker on a defense that gave up 38 points is a stat that can flatter. That is my caution. The tackles are real. But the 38-point day against the Kirk Cousins-led Raiders does have some concern in it. So... What exactly is the issue here? Sabini says that at times Sherwood has been frustrated by the organization and has frustrated the organization. And on Sunday, Zach Rosenblatt tweeted out that it looked like Aaron Glenn was yelling at Sherwood after the second Brock Bowers touchdown of the day. The Raiders scored 38 points. Kirk Cousins threw three touchdowns. And one of you, ChadX92X, nailed it. He said, quote, There are execution issues, not schematic. He expects six to eight new starters on the defense next season, which is a fair assumption. What is the plan for Sherwood? Well, one, you could give him a clear job, have him as a tackler, 65 stops, 5 for loss, put him where he flies downhill, stop asking him to be the whole answer against Bowers-type matchups because he can't do it. Plan two is one voice. If the head coach is yelling at the linebacker mid-game, that is not a coaching plan. That is a symptom of a problem. The middle of the defense is where Sherwood plays, and it's where the 38-point game starts. Plan three is use the 2027 money as leverage. A non-guaranteed $15 million means the Jets do not have to decide on the deadline. Use the next nine games to find out if the last two weeks are real and that he could tap back into the guy who we once saw when we paid him that contract and we were all thrilled he was sticking around. Then decide in the spring if Jamie and Sherwood is the type of guy to keep around. And honestly, guys, I do think Garofalo is right on Will McDonald and Cimini is right on Sherwood. Neither is moving at a Jets price like this. It's just not worth it, necessarily. And the clock is real. The deadline is November 10th, eight days away. After that, these two are the Jets' guys for the rest of the year, and McDonald's 2027 guarantee is already on the books. But keeping him is not a plan. Glenn said this week about Breece Hall, quote, We are in the business of keeping good players. So, prove it. A bigger role for McDonald, a clear job for Sherwood, and nine games of evidence to see if these guys are the type of players that they should be in the business of keeping around, or well, not. And to recap the plan, McDonald needs a new role, real coaching, and an audition. Sherwood needs a clear job, one voice at a time. None of it costs a draft pick, all of it costs the staff some honesty about what they have, and it also costs to see how much The coaching staff is at fault for these issues. And the comment of the day goes to Russ Sharp on our This Was Inevitable video. He wrote, this guy is not falling because the Jets ceiling was never that high. And he thinks the Jets do finish 6 or 11 or 7 and 10. Obviously, that would be a big turnaround after we did just lose this week. But it's still possible, and it still shows improvement. And right now, the Jets do have a plethora of high picks. That they're going to be able to work and turn into something. And then hopefully next year is the turnaround. If you're with me that the Jets are keeping these guys, And we need more for them. Hit the subscribe button. We're at over 8,100 subscribers right now. And every single one of you helps us get to 9K before this year ends. So tell me in the comments. Do you trade Will McDonald or do you keep him? Let me know. Like this video. Subscribe. Turn on post notifications. Have a great day. Go Jets.