Zach Wilson’s Jets tenure might be barreling toward an end after GM Joe Douglas revealed they allowed him to seek a trade, but cornerback Sauce Gardner doesn’t agree with a report that they can’t find any partners for the deal.
NFL Notifications, an X account that aggregates reports from around the league, cited a rumor Thursday — without identifying the original source — that “no team has expressed much interest” in Wilson, adding that the Jets might need to package a draft pick with the quarterback or take on salary in order to facilitate something.
“This has to be cap. Zach is a BALLER,” Gardner wrote on X, adding a hundred points emoji. “All he needs is time to throw the ball and if for whatever reason he don’t have it, he can get it done with his legs.”
While The Post’s Brian Costello wrote earlier in February that the scenario of adding in a draft pick or taking on salary reflects one he thinks could unfold, it’s unclear how the Jets’ negotiations have evolved since then.
Still, Douglas confirming that the Jets allowed Wilson to pursue a trade marked the end of speculation that started when they benched him for third-string quarterback Tim Boyle on Nov. 20.
Wilson became the starter again two weeks later — despite reportedly being reluctant to take on that role again — and was expected to remain the Jets’ top quarterback for the remainder of their season, but he sustained a concussion in their Week 15 loss to the Dolphins.
That, in all likelihood, gave his underwhelming Jets career an unceremonious ending.
Wilson entered the NFL as the No. 2 overall pick — and the Jets’ Week 1 starter — in 2021, but he struggled with inconsistencies and never produced the results that Douglas envisioned, completing 57 percent of his passes for 6,293 yards, 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
This season, Wilson was thrust back into the starting role when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles just four offensive snaps into the season, and the Jets offense struggled to produce points for essentially the entire campaign with Wilson, Boyle and Trevor Siemian guiding the offense at various points.
“We need a backup quarterback,” Jets owner Woody Johnson told reporters at the NFL Honors ceremony. “We didn’t have one last year.”
Through all that, it became clear that 2023 would likely mark Wilson’s last season with Gang Green, with his next team getting the 24-year-old with one year left on his rookie deal along with a fifth-year option that hasn’t been picked up or declined yet.
But Gardner, who played with Wilson the past two seasons, finds it hard to believe that the Jets can’t find another team interested in trying to revive the career of a former top pick.
