New York, New York: Jets Pass Rusher Will McDonald IV Asks for a Trade Before the Deadline

Will McDonald IV wants out of New York. The Jets pass rusher has told the team he wants to be traded, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport reported on Monday morning, one day before the NFL trade deadline closes at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

Rapoport said McDonald has played sparingly this season and is extremely frustrated with his usage. The former first round pick wants more opportunities, and the team is aware of the request. The report landed hours after the Jets lost 35-12 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, a defeat that dropped New York to 2-7 and extended its losing streak to four games.

The Jets say they are not selling

A trade request is only half of a trade. Rapoport reported that teams have called the Jets about McDonald, but the club has not engaged in trade talks and has no plans to. That leaves the Jets holding a player who wants a bigger role, a deadline one day away, and a defense that can use every pass rusher it has.

McDonald still has team control working in the Jets favor. He is 27, was the 15th overall pick in the 2023 draft, and is signed through 2027 after the Jets accepted the fifth year option on his contract, worth 14.475 million dollars for 2027, according to Yardbarker. He would not reach free agency until 2028, a point For The Win also made in listing possible landing spots on Monday.

A small role for a first round pick

The frustration is easy to measure. McDonald has three sacks this season in a situational role. NBC Sports, citing Pro Football Focus, reported he has played 278 defensive snaps this season, with 15 tackles in nine games. A first round edge rusher drafted to chase quarterbacks has instead watched long stretches from the sideline, on a team whose season has already slipped away.

SNY reporter Connor Hughes added that McDonald is not happy in head coach Aaron Glenn defense, and that Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles was specifically interested in McDonald last year, when the Jets turned teams away. Sports Illustrated, Heavy and Jets X-Factor all carried the same request on Monday, and none reported any comment from the Jets beyond the club position in Rapoport report.

What happens before Tuesday at 4 p.m.

The Jets have three ways to end this. They can trade McDonald to one of the callers and take the draft pick his market brings. They can keep him and expand his role over the second half of the season. Or they can keep him, change nothing, and carry a public trade request into a locker room that is already 2-7.

For The Win listed Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Dallas and Cincinnati as teams that could use another edge rusher, which shows the shape of the market if the Jets change their minds. None of that makes a deal likely on the reporting so far. The deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Until then, the request is public, the phone lines are open, and the Jets are the team saying no.