Despite his agent Ron Slavin publicly requesting a trade last week, wide receiver Denzel Mims is still currently a member of the Jets.
The 2020 second-round pick has had limited playing time during his two seasons with Gang Green, catching 31 passes for 490 yards and no touchdowns in his 20 regular season games.
And with the Jets loading up at wide receiver over the past two years – adding players like Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, and Garrett Wilson – general manager Joe Douglas explained on Wednesday that he was not surprised to see Mims officially request a change of scenery.
“Ron and I have a good relationship -- Denzel’s agent -- so kind of got a heads-up that that was coming,” Douglas said. “Fielded some calls, ultimately nothing materialized, especially anything that we would consider the right value for a player of Denzel’s talent and ability. … Ultimately nothing materialized on that front with any trades.”
During his tenure with the Jets, Mims has shown flashes, both in preseason and in the regular season, that he could be the player the Jets thought he was when they took him with the 59th overall pick two years ago. But for whatever reasons, Mims has not been able to work his way up the depth chart and expand his playing time.
Still, the Jets kept Mims on the 53-man roster through this week’s cut-down deadline, and Douglas explained that Mims’ trade request was more about wanting playing time that wanting to play for a different team.
“I wouldn’t say he wants to be somewhere else; he wants to play, he wants to start,” Douglas said. “Denzel’s very confident, and I think he’s voiced that, that he should be a starter. Ultimately, we want a team full of guys that feel like they should be the number one guy. Denzel loves the Jets, Denzel’s a great person, a high-level competitor, and I think it wasn’t him wanting to be somewhere else, just him wanting to play more.
“He does want to play, but at the same time we have to do what’s best for the New York Jets. … We have a great room, Coach [Saleh] has talked about that a lot. We have a very cool room of wide receivers, and Denzel’s a big part of that.”
The way that Douglas looks at the situation is sound: The Jets aren’t going to cut ties with a talented player like Mims unless they receive fair value for him, and Mims’ current standing on the depth chart has more to do with the talent around him being better than it’s been in years past.
“I feel like we’re certainly a more talented team than we’ve ever been,” Douglas said. “We’ve had these OTAs, these preseason games, this training camp to really come together and build chemistry as a group, but you’re right, we have to close the gap in the division. That’s part of playing meaningful games down the stretch is winning games in the division, and that’s goal number one of any team is to win their division.”