The Jets reportedly are getting calls about a trade for disgruntled defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson. New Jets coach Todd Bowles hasn’t ruled out a possible trade of the 2011 first-round pick who’s entering a contract year.
“Mo is on our team now,” Bowles told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s all I can go by.”
Bowles added that he hasn’t heard that teams have called about Wilkerson, but the first-year head coach opted not to declare that Wilkerson would continue to be on the team.
“I didn’t say it was or wasn’t,” Bowles said about whether a trade is possible. “Around draft time you hear a lot of different rumors that go on and I try not to feed into them.”
Of course, saying anything other than “Wilkerson will not be traded” feeds into the rumors of a possible trade.
Wilkerson currently is absent from offseason workouts as he waits for a new contract.
“Mo is on our team and we go from there,” Bowles said. “I don’t really need or look at who thinks what’s going to happen or what’s trying to happen. I know Mo is on our team.”
The real question is whether Mo will still be on the team next week at this time. If he’s going to be traded, the best opportunity arrives on Thursday night. Especially if one of the teams picking above the Jets would be interested in a package that includes Wilkerson and New York’s No. 6 overall pick in the draft -- and if the Jets would be interested in moving up.
