New York Jets: Pros and cons of Demaryius Thomas trade
The New York Jets have a new wide receiver in former Bronco Demaryius Thomas. Here are the pros and cons of this recent trade.
New York Jets head coach Adam Gase was not happy with the performance of his wide receiver corps in Sunday’s bitter 17-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills to open up the 2019 regular season. So it was time to do something.
That was accomplished (perhaps) by Gang Green acquiring wide receiver Demaryius Thomas from the New England Patriots in a trade. The wide receiver comes in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round draft pick.
Here are the pros and cons of this deal for the Jets.
Pros
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This trade was stunning because Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was never involved in a trade with the Jets until now. Gang Green was the only team in the NFL that the Pats did not trade with since Belichick became the head coach in 2000.
What Thomas brings to the table is a wealth of talent. The key question, though, is how much does he have left? He’s a big, physical receiver at 6-3, 225 pounds, a four-time Pro Bowler and has experience playing under Gase while in Denver (2010-14).
The Georgia Tech product has two 100-reception seasons on his resume (2014, 2015) and five campaigns of 1,000 yards or more (2012-16). The Jets certainly did not give up a great deal of draft capital to obtain him and Thomas can step in right away now that Quincy Enunwa is lost for the season with another neck injury.
Thomas will be a key target in the red zone now that Enunwa is out and tight end Chris Herndon won’t return until the fifth game of the season due to suspension. Thomas still has decent speed and strong hands. The Jets could really use the Thomas of 2015 right now though.
Cons
How much does Thomas really have left in the tank? We’ll find out Monday night. He’s 31 years old now and coming off a torn Achilles suffered last December. He did perform well in New England’s final preseason game (seven catches, 87 yards, two touchdowns) but that was a contest that did not count against backup players. His last productive season was in 2017, so he has a lot to prove at this point in time.
If Thomas was that valuable, why would the Patriots trade him to a division rival for a low draft pick?
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That says a lot right there. The Montrose, GA native has to show that he is fully recovered from his Achilles injury and that he can still make quick cuts on his routes. The Jets can only hope that he can still be a viable, even dynamic wide receiver on a sagging offense that really needs a boost this early in the season.