Mike Williams trades targets and what Jets could get in return

The playoffs-or-bust Jets may be the least likely two-win team in NFL history to become a trade deadline seller.

And yet Mike Williams will almost certainly be assigned every day after catching one pass for 15 yards and roughly halving his workload against the Steelers (19 offensive snaps). It was the end of a week in which he was called out for a poor route by Aaron Rodgers and pushed down the receiver depth chart by the arrival of Rodgers-endorsed Davante Adams.

Injuries around the league in Week 7 may have created some new trade partners for the Jets, but what value does Williams have on the market? The Adams acquisition reduced the Jets’ impact, and his own production (11 catches for 160 yards) is trending toward its lowest level in seven years — excluding last year’s shortened three-game season due to a torn ACL.

“His strengths are his size, his catch radius and his ability to be a target in the red zone, so he still has value even after the ACL,” an NFL executive said. “He can still walk. If you’re looking for small things, it will take a while for the explosive twitching of the brakes to appear again. Because it was him [a free agent] No one is going to give up more than a late-round pick this past offseason.”

Receiver is the most traded position in the NFL, and teams looking for help will have other alternatives to Williams, even after Adams and Amari Cooper (Browns to Bills) have already been moved.

Darius Slayton of the Giants, Courtland Sutton of the Broncos, Diontae Johnson of the Panthers and DeAndre Hopkins of the Titans will be available. The Bengals and Rams could face tough decisions about whether to acquire franchise-tagged Tee Higgins and former NFL Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp, respectively, if they exit the playoff race.

The Jets, who took over all of Adams’ owed money from the Raiders, will likely have to eat up some of Williams’ one-year, $10 million contract to make a deal possible. According to spotrac.com, at the end of the contract there is $5.876 million spread over four void years.

“His contract will obviously be an issue for some teams,” the general manager said.

Donovan Peoples-Jones (sixth-round pick) and Van Jefferson, Mecole Hardman and Chase Claypool (late-round pick swap) were all dealt just before last year’s season deadline.

Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)

The Steelers are believed to be the favorite to sign Williams, but have been in talks because the teams played last week. They have been looking for a complement to George Pickens since trading Johnson to the Panthers and missing out on Brandon Aiyuk when he re-signed with the 49ers just before the start of the season.

San Francisco 49ers (3-4)

According to head coach Kyle Shanahan, Ayiuk suffered a season-ending torn ACL and ACL during Sunday’s loss, and the frequently injured Deebo Samuel was hospitalized with fluid in his lungs and a form of pneumonia. It’s Super Bowl or bankruptcy.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3)

In the same game in which Mike Evans re-injured his hamstring, Chris Godwin suffered a season-ending broken leg. The revival of quarterback Baker Mayfield had a lot to do with these two receivers.

Los Angeles Chargers (3-3)

Would Williams’ former team — which let him become a free agent as part of a salary cap purge — want him back? The Chargers only have one 200-yard receiver (rookie Ladd McConkey, 265) — not enough weapons for $262.5 million quarterback Justin Herbert.

Kansas City Chiefs (6-0)

Patrick Mahomes can make scraps look gourmet, but with tight end Travis Kelce’s performance way down and Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice sidelined, Williams could be a better complement to speedster Xavier Worthy than JuJu Smith-Schuster.