The 2024 season has been as bizarre as any for the New York Jets. While drama and underwhelming play from Aaron Rodgers is going on, the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh, who led the team to seven wins last season with Zach Wilson at QB.
However, the worst story of the year came out, and it involves their owner Woody Johnson — and it happened earlier in the week. As a result, fans and media alike have been grilling the franchise, and Johnson in particular, for the past few days. Even though one of the key components revolved around Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, Jeudy himself wasn’t buying it.
Jerry Jeudy and the Madden Rating Fiasco
Earlier in the week, Dianna Russini of The Athletic came out with an opus on the Jets’ season. While there was a ton to unpack, including the team’s decision to fire coach Saleh, the most damning piece of news was about a potential trade that didn’t occur.
With Rodgers out for the entirety of the 2023 season with a torn Achilles, the team was looking to load up before this season. During their search, Jeudy of the Browns became available. However, Johnson wouldn’t make the trade for one peculiar reason.
According to the article, Johnson believed that Jeudy’s Madden rating wasn’t high enough to warrant a trade. However, the wide receiver doesn’t believe in the reporting himself, purely because of how insane the idea of deciding a trade based on a Madden rating sounds.
“To be honest, I don’t believe it. I think that’s fake news, to be real. Why would someone look at Madden rating? I don’t think that’s real, but it’s funny.”
#Browns WR Jerry Jeudy on report from The Athletic re: #Jets owner Woody Johnson rejecting trade: "To be honest, I don't believe it. I think that's fake news, to be real. Why would someone look at Madden rating? I don't think that's real, but it's funny."
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) December 19, 2024
During his four years with the Denver Broncos, Jeudy was consistently averaging over 900 yards per game.
But if the rumors are true, Woody Johnson has to be feeling worse about the decision given his play this season.
In his first year with the Browns, despite quarterbacking from Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston, Jeudy has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark, totaling 1,052 yards in just 14 games.
The situation gets worse where the Jets are concerned. Their leading receiver by yards has been Garrett Wilson (933 yards). While Davante Adams is averaging three more yards per game than Jeudy, he came at a much higher price for New York.