Zach Wilson waited until his 33rd game as a Jet to deliver a performance that made you see why the team drafted him No. 2 overall in 2021.
In the second half of Sunday’s win over the Texans, he was decisive, accurate and confident — three things he’s rarely been in his NFL career. He registered the highest passer rating of his career (117.9) and his highest completion percentage (75 percent).
“It was the best game that he’s played, in my opinion,” Jets coach Robert Saleh reiterated Monday.
But it’s all just too little, too late.
Maybe if Wilson had done this in December of his rookie year or even December of last year when he got a few starts after Mike White was injured, we’d see a performance like this as a sign of what Wilson could become. But there has been too much evidence that he is not the future of the Jets to let one strong performance to put much stock in Sunday’s showing as anything more than an outlier.
Whatever happens down the stretch, the Jets need to move on from Wilson in 2024. There should be no temptation to bring him back as Aaron Rodgers’ understudy like they did this year. There should be no discussions about him possibly taking over for Rodgers in 2025, which would require giving him a new contract. If Wilson strings together a series of great games, the Jets need to stay strong and say goodbye to Wilson this offseason.
Both sides need a clean break.
Saleh was asked if Wilson can play himself into the plans for the 2024 Jets.
“Anything can happen, especially in this sport, it’s like a New York minute, right?” Saleh said. “It swings from one pendulum to the next. He just needs to focus on week-to-week, just putting his best foot forward and just being the best version of him he can be.”
Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas need to move on from Wilson. He is a constant reminder of the biggest mistakes they made in their regime, selecting Wilson No. 2 overall and then making him an immediate starter.
It took until Sunday to really see Wilson play up to his BYU scouting report. Before Sunday, his previous best game probably came in a loss to the Chiefs this season.
If you look at those games, both of them came when pressure was off of Wilson. Against the Chiefs, he began playing well after the team fell behind 17-0 early and he began playing free and taking chances. This week, he entered the game against the Texans with nothing to lose. He was coming back from the bullpen after Tim Boyle failed as his replacement. No one was expecting anything from him Sunday. The Jets already have eight losses and are playing out the string.
There also was a report from the Deseret News in Utah that Saleh informed Wilson two weeks ago he will be traded after the season. It was something Saleh did not exactly deny when asked about it Monday.
“My conversations with [Wilson] are to do everything he can to get ready to play a football game,” Saleh said. “As far as all that other stuff is concerned, those are things I will leave for Joe [Douglas].”
So, maybe Wilson took the field on Sunday knowing that his time with the Jets is over and it did not matter if he threw four interceptions. He played carefree and pulled off a number of risky throws.
Maybe he can continue to play like this, continuing Sunday in Miami. If he does, the Jets should view it as increasing Wilson’s trade value this offseason, not anything more.
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