FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The New York Jets traded wide receiver Denzel Mims to the Detroit Lions on Thursday, parting ways with the disappointing 2020 second-round draft pick who requested to be dealt last summer.
The Jets, who announced the teams agreed to terms on the trade, also sent a 2025 conditional seventh-round pick to the Lions for a conditional sixth-rounder in 2025.
New York told Mims it would release him if the Jets couldn’t find a trade partner, two people with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team didn’t announce its intentions.
Mims was excused from joining the team when rookies and veterans reported for training camp Wednesday. The team’s first camp practice with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback was Thursday.
“I wish him luck,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said shortly before the trade was announced. “I appreciate Denzel, appreciate what he did. And sometimes a change of scenery is always good, it’s good for everybody. But he’s a big boy, he’s big, long, strong and fast and he’ll have an opportunity, if everything gets done, to play for another team and show why everyone was so excited about him.”
Mims requested a trade last summer when he became unhappy about his reduced role in the offense. New York chose to instead keep the former Baylor star, but he finished with just 11 catches for 186 yards in 10 games.
Nearly a year later, Mims received his wish for a fresh start elsewhere.
In Detroit, Mims joins a wide receiver group that includes Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones Jr., Kalif Raymond, Josh Reynolds and seventh-rounder Antoine Green. The Lions needed depth at the position after Jameson Williams, the team’s first-round pick last year, was suspended along with fellow receivers Quintez Cephus and Stanley Berryhill in April for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
Williams is eligible to return in Week 7, but Cephus and Berryhill were since waived by Detroit.
In three seasons with New York, Mims had 42 catches for 676 yards and no touchdowns in 30 games, including 15 starts.
Mims dealt with hamstring issues early as a rookie, but showed some flashes with 23 catches for 357 yards in nine games.
A case of food poisoning caused him to lose 20 pounds during the 2021 offseason and he dealt with a rough bout of COVID-19 during the season — and his role in new offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur’s system dwindled. He finished with just eight catches for 133 yards in 11 games.
Mims was still low on the depth chart last summer and was never able to see consistent snaps — prompting his trade request.
Even with Rodgers now at quarterback and Nathaniel Hackett the Jets’ offensive coordinator, Mims likely would have had a tough time cracking New York’s rotation. Garrett Wilson, last season’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, tops a depth chart that includes Corey Davis, Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman and Randall Cobb — all of whom were likely ahead of Mims.
Mims is the second wide receiver recently drafted by the Jets to be traded. Elijah Moore, a second-rounder in 2021, was dealt to Cleveland in March after he also requested a trade last season because of frustration over his limited role in the offense.
NOTES: The Jets signed WR Alex Erickson and S Dane Cruikshank. Erickson has 96 catches for 1,141 yards and a touchdown in six NFL seasons spent with Cincinnati, Carolina and Washington. He has also returned punts and kickoffs. Cruikshank has been a key special teams performer and backup on defense during four years with Tennessee and last season with Chicago. … The Lions released K Michael Badgley to make room on the roster for Mims and placed QB Hendon Hooker, TE Derrick Deese Jr. and DL Zach Morton on the non-football injury list. Badgley was 20 of 24 of field-goal attempts last season with the Lions and made all 33 of his extra points. Hooker, a third-round pick in April, had his final season at Tennessee cut short by a knee injury from which he’s still recovering.
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