The most entertaining story of the week came from TheAthletic.com, which led a deep dive into the dysfunctional Jets with a tale that was too fantastical to not be true.
Woody Johnson, per the three-byline #longread, vetoed a trade for Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy because Jeudy’s Madden rating was too low.
Here’s the first line of the story that focuses on the Madden angle: “The New York Jets were nearing the finish line on a deal to acquire wide receiver Jerry Jeudy from the Denver Broncos last offseason, but the trade fell apart when Jets owner Woody Johnson nixed the idea over Jeudy’s player rating in the ‘Madden NFL’ video game, according to multiple team and league sources.”
After the story landed and the ridiculousness of an NFL owner relying on Madden ratings in making personnel decisions provided plenty of ammo for sports talkers and bloggers everywhere, something happened.
People started reaching out to me to say it didn’t happen the way that it was described. Then, on Friday, Jeudy himself called the report “fake news.”
So I made some phone calls on Saturday. Here’s what I found out.
The talks between the Broncos and the Jets were never “nearing the finish line.” Broncos G.M. George Paton had multiple lines in the water. The Browns and Jets emerged as viable contenders. New York offered a third-day pick (likely round four) and receiver Allen Lazard.
The Broncos weren’t interested in that package, and there was (as one source said) a “zero percent chance” the Broncos would have accepted it. Before the talks could progress beyond that offer, they abruptly ended.
When the talks ended, the trade was (per the source) “far from a done deal.”
They very well might have ended because Johnson nixed it at that point. Perhaps (and this is speculation) when the possibility of sweetening the pot was raised internally, Johnson said he’s not giving up more than a day-three pick and Lazard for a guy with a Madden rating that low.
Regardless, and as one source put it, the story as published “takes liberties” with the facts, because the Broncos and Jets were never, ever “nearing the finish line.”
We don’t know whether Johnson did or didn’t involve Jeudy’s Madden rating. However, this wasn’t the equivalent of a beat-the-clock, last-second phone call that pulled the plug on something that otherwise would have happened. The Broncos were never taking the offer the Jets had made.
Could the Jets have enhanced the package? Maybe. And maybe that’s how and when a video game became the tiebreaker. Regardless, this was not a situation where the teams were about to independently and simultaneously inform the league office of the terms of a trade when Woody stormed into the room and shouted to Douglas, “Hang up that phone right now!”
