New York Jets

How did Sam Darnold handle the news that he was being traded from the NY Jets to the Carolina Panthers?!

Break out the black and blue balloons ... it's party time!!!

Check out the celebration Darnold's friends and family threw for the QB in the hours after the trade went down -- the smile on Sam's face speaks for itself!

Sam's personal QB coach Jordan Palmer captured the small gathering on video -- saying, "Pumped for the next leg of this journey."

Sam waves his arms in the air, cracks a huge smile and puts on a Panthers ball cap. He's ready!!

... and why wouldn't he be? The Jets have been trash since they selected Darnold with the 3rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The 23-year-old QB has flashed serious potential -- but many blame the incompetence of recently fired Jets coach Adam Gase for stunting his development.

Sam Darnold has a new home ... the Jets just officially gave up on their 2018 1st-round pick, sending him off to Carolina in a huge, pre-NFL draft trade.

The Panthers announced the move Monday afternoon ... explaining they traded 3 picks -- including a 6th-rounder this year and 2nd and 4th-rounders in 2022 -- for the QB.

Carolina's team site described the deal this way ... "The Panthers landed a first-round quarterback, without waiting to see if one fell to them with the eighth overall pick in this year's draft."

Darnold was originally taken by NY with the #3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft ... but he was largely a disappointment in his 3 seasons with Gang Green, recording a 13-25 record.

The 23-year-old struggled with injuries -- missing at least 3 games in all 3 of his 3 three seasons in the league -- as well interceptions, throwing 39 in just 38 games.

Darnold, though, did flash talent from time to time ... and as a guy who could have easily been the #1 overall pick in '18 -- it seems Carolina is more than willing to take the gamble.

As for what it means for the two teams going forward ... the Jets will almost certainly take BYU star QB, Zach Wilson, with the #2 overall pick later this month.

Brandon Marshall has the solution to all of Deshaun Watson's woes with the Texans -- telling TMZ Sports EVERYTHING can be resolved by forcing a trade to New York!!!

"The New York Jets are the perfect landing spot for Deshaun Watson," the ex-NFL star receiver says.

As for why ... Marshall -- who played two years of his NFL career with NYJ -- says it's simple, the team can offer him anything he wants.

"The salary cap, we got around $68, $69 million available," Marshall says. "Who do you want?!"

The 36-year-old -- STAR on HBO's "Inside the NFL" show and founder of House of Athlete -- says the Jets would be willing to buy any free agent, including former Bears star Allen Robinson, to make it all work out.

In fact, Marshall says NY brass would even give him some say on who the team should draft!!

"He's going to turn this thing around," Marshall says. "And, we've been waiting for someone like him to lead the way."

Of course, the Texans would have to be amenable to jettisoning Watson first ... but all indications are pointing toward Watson holding out if he isn't traded.

So, DW to NY?!

By the way, Marshall has some really cool stuff going on this offseason besides recruiting for the Jets.

With the cancellation of the NFL's annual combine (thanks, COVID), Brandon says he's holding his own showcase down in Florida to help athletes and teams alike prepare for the NFL draft.

Ohio State superstar Justin Fields is moving on from the Buckeyes -- the QB just announced he'll enter the NFL Draft ... and it begs the question, is New York his next destination?!

The Jets are slated to pick #2 overall in April's draft ... and some believe they could take Fields and move on from Sam Darnold.

Of course, Jets star Quinnen Williams told TMZ Sports this month that he would NOT go that route -- preferring Alabama's Devonta Smith instead.

If the Jets do pass, Fields doesn't figure to fall too far -- he's considered either the 2nd- or 3rd-best QB in the entire draft.

As for leaving OSU, Fields was emotional in making the announcement Monday ... thanking his coach, his teammates and Buckeye nation for embracing him after he transferred to the school from Georgia.

"To my teammates, I will miss you more than you know," Fields said in his lengthy goodbye note. "I hope I have made the same impact on you that you have made on me. The bonds formed these last two years will last a lifetime; in you, I will always have brothers."

Forget Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields ... Jets star Quinnen Williams tells TMZ Sports his squad should PASS on a QB in April's NFL draft -- and take Devonta Smith instead!!!

"I'm wishin'!" Williams says. "I'm saying it right now, I'm wishin'!"

Of course, NY will likely have the option to take the star 'Bama wideout at #2 overall in just a few months ... though most pundits believe the team should take a QB and move on from Sam Darnold with the pick.

But, when we spoke with Williams after his former Alabama team won the National Championship last week, he told us he'd prefer to keep Sam and select this year's Heisman Trophy winner instead.

"Devonta Smith got that 'Bama in him," Williams says. "We need someone with that. Man, he's amazing."

The selection would be fairly historic ... wideouts almost NEVER go in the top two picks -- in fact, only two have been selected in the top two since 2000 (Calvin Johnson in 2007 and Charles Rogers in 2002).

According to Williams, though, this is the perfect time to make it happen again.

"Any team that gets him -- not even the Jets -- any team that gets him they'll be getting a dominant player," Williams says. "And, you can see that now."

We're pretty sure Williams ain't wrong here -- Smith was incredible for Alabama this season, catching 117 passes for 1,856 receiving yards and 23 receiving touchdowns.

"If we get him," Williams says, "he's going to be a dynamic attribute for Sam."

Sorry, Patriots fans ... Quinnen Williams says Bill Belichick is NOT the greatest football coach ever -- the Jets star tells TMZ Sports that honor now belongs to Nick Saban!!

The NFL defensive lineman made the bold claim shortly after the Alabama head coach won yet ANOTHER National Championship this week ... saying, "I think, in my head, I think he's the greatest coach of all time."

"Just because, man, like, his resume speaks for itself, man," Williams said.

Of course, Williams is biased -- the dude played for Saban for three years with the Tide from 2016-2018 -- but it's getting harder and harder to disagree.

Saban's victory over Ohio State last Monday gave him his SEVENTH college football championship -- the most in the history of the game.

The 69-year-old also has a staggering college coaching career record of 261-65-1 ... and has routinely put players in the NFL year after year after year.

"He has a list of hundreds of NFL players who are either starters or big-time superstars or big-time players under his belt," Williams says. "To do the things that he does, and to have a consistent dynasty and a consistent winning team that he has, it's unheard of."

The NY Jets made history with their head coaching hire Thursday night ... they inked a deal with Robert Saleh, reportedly making him the NFL's 1st-ever Muslim head coach.

According to Muslim civil rights advocacy group CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) ... no other Muslim had been given the role in the league's history prior to Saleh's hiring.

"We welcome this development as another sign of the increasing inclusion and recognition of American Muslims in our diverse society," CAIR spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said.

41-year-old Saleh -- who was born in Michigan but has family roots in Lebanon -- has been a straight-up hell of a coach since he was promoted to defensive coordinator in San Francisco.

In fact, many NFL pundits have already praised the Jets for the hire ... saying what Saleh did with the 49ers the past four seasons makes him a safe bet to succeed in New York.

Saleh's 49ers' defensive groups have been consistently some of the best in the NFL ... and stars like Richard Sherman praised him after the Jets made the hiring official this week.

"The @nyjets got a great one!" Sherman said on Twitter. "Congrats to them!"

It's finally over.

The NY Jets have officially fired head coach Adam Gase after one of the worst seasons in team history.

The Jets only won 2 games in 2020 -- after starting off the season 0-13 -- finishing up with a pathetic 2-14 record.

The Gase-era -- which started with a bizarre press conference in 2019 -- ended with a sad 9-23 record. Not great.

"This evening, I informed Adam Gase he will no longer serve as the Head Coach of the Jets," NY Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said in a statement Sunday night.

Johnson praised Gase and his family but ultimately said moving on is the right thing to do. No kidding!

"While my sincere intentions are to have stability in our organization -- especially in our leadership positions -- it is clear the best decision for the Jets is to move in a different direction."

Johnson added, "To our fans, it is obvious we have not been good enough. We are committed to building a strong organization, on and off the field, and will continue to provide the necessary resources to field a team that you can be proud of."

The 2020 campaign was the 2nd worst season on NY Jets history -- following an infamously terrible 1-15 season back in 1996.

Gase was just bad all the way around -- he was hailed as a QB whisperer who could help out Sam Darnold ... but Darnold looked terrible this season and the Jets finished the year with the 32nd ranked offense in the league.

"That's the dumbest call ever. There's no other way of putting it."

Rex Ryan just went OFF on NY Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for his role in the team's epic 31-28 loss to the Raiders on Sunday ... saying the guy's last-play-of-the-game defense was straight-up "stupid."

"Dumbest call I've ever seen," Ryan said on ESPN's 'Get Up' on Monday morning ... "It's just stupid. It's just absolutely stupid."

If you missed it ... the Jets were FINALLY about to get a win this season -- all they had to do was play defense for 13 more seconds in their game against Vegas to seal up victory #1.

But, Williams inexplicably decided to all-out blitz Derek Carr instead of just playing conservatively ... and it all led to a miracle, game-winning 46-yard touchdown.

The defense Williams called was peculiar -- it left no safety help for the team's cornerbacks -- and several notable names in the NFL, including Tony Dungy, wondered why in the world THAT was the defense Williams chose.

"Just protect the sideline and the end zone and the game is over," Dungy said.

In fact, Carr himself was dumbfounded over it all ... telling reporters after the game, "I couldn't believe they all-out blitzed us."

Ryan couldn't either ... and the former NY Jets head coach didn't hold back when breaking down Williams' call.

"Not only was it the stupidest call ever, they don't even know how to run the dang Cover 0 blitz," Ryan said. "And you wonder why they give up 400 yards a game. You wonder why this team hasn't won a game."

"And the thing I feel bad about is for every one of those kids that have been a laughing stock of the league. The Jets have been a laughing stock of this league. And for you to put those kids in that situation, to take the moment away from them -- a win -- after all their hard work, that's just ridiculous."

For their part, the Jets' players weren't exactly pleased with Williams either ... team captain Marcus Maye told media members afterward, "I just felt like we could've been in a better call in that situation."

Hope Trevor Lawrence is really worth all of this ...

Playing for the god awful NY Jets took a real toll on Jamal Adams -- who says he battled depression during his sad run with Gang Green.

"Bro, I fought depression in New York," the star safety said on the 'All Things Covered' podcast with Bryant McFadden and Patrick Peterson.

"And I’m man enough to say it. I came home after a tough loss and just sat in my room in the dark -- no phone, no TV. [My dad] hated to see me like that. It killed my pops so much."

Adams spent 3 years with the Jets before forcing the team to trade him to Seattle before the 2020 season. The Jets were 16 and 32 during his time in NY and have only gotten worse.

"[My dad] was calling my agent at the time and saying, 'Hey man, I don’t like seeing my son like this. I need him out of this situation.' It took a toll on my life outside of football."

The Jets are currently 0-9 and have become the laughing stock of the NFL. This year's team could go down as the worst team in NFL history.

Adams described the organization this way -- "They do not want to win."

The good news ... Adams seems to be in a much better place mentally in Seattle, praising the organization on the podcast.

"This is how the NFL is supposed to be. This is the dream I was dreaming."

THOU SHALT NOT CUSS -- NOT EVEN IN A FOOTBALL HUDDLE!

That's one of Tim Tebow's commandments -- and it led to an incredible moment during his run with the NY Jets, when Tim refused to call a play called an "Oh Sh*t Screen."

Tim's former Jets teammate, Nick Mangold, told the story about a moment during the 2012 season on BroBible's "Endless Hustle" podcast ... and it's pretty hilarious!!

"We had a play that was a 'Y Oh Sh*t' screen, where the tight end actually fakes like he fell down on a running play, hops up, runs back over, throws back to the tight end and it's usually wide open," Mangold said.

But Tim -- who's never committed a single sin in his life --  refused to drop the s-bomb while calling the play in the huddle.

"He goes through the whole formation and gets to the last play: 'Y, Alright Screen' ... you guys know what it is.'"

"And we’re like, 'No Tim, what is it?' ... then he goes, 'No, I’m not going to say it.'"

Seems the whole team jokingly tried like hell to coax Tebow into saying the word -- but he stayed strong and refused to let the expletive fly.

The way Mangold tells the story ... it was all in good fun, but Tebow never wavered!

In the end, Mangold said the team got in trouble for taking too long in the huddle.

Le'Veon Bell is a Chief.

The ex-NY Jets running back signed a 1-year deal with the defending Super Bowl champs, after being cut by Gang Green earlier this week.

You know the backstory ... the Jets suck. Bell was unhappy. The Jets decided to get him outta there before he became a bigger problem.

Bell was reportedly deciding between 3 teams -- the Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills ... and ultimately decided the best fit was in K.C.

The best part ... the Chiefs play the Jets in Week 8 -- so, that should be fun!

Bell tweeted about the move Thursday afternoon -- saying, "Kansas City, #ChiefsKingdom thank you for the opportunity. Let’s go!"

Bell should have an immediate impact on the Chiefs running game -- currently ranked 19th in the league with an average of 108 rushing yards per game.

The starting back is rookie sensation Clyde Edwards-Helaire -- who can ball -- but let's face it, he could probably use the help.

Question is ... can Bell reclaim his place as one of the top backs in the NFL? Or are his best days behind him?

Jets superstar Jamal Adams just UNLOADED on his head coach ... saying Adam Gase is NOT a leader -- and it all appears to be yet another attempt by the DB to get traded from the team.

Adams took aim at Gase in an interview with the NY Daily News this week ... saying straight-up he believes his team's head man lacks the leadership skills necessary to win rings.

"I don't feel like he’s the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land,” Adams said. "As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building."

Jamal says Gase doesn't address the team as a whole after games and workouts ... and when it comes time to break down issues at halftime of games -- Adams says Gase passes off the responsibility to other coaches.

"If we’re playing sh*tty and we’re losing," Adams said, "he doesn’t address the entire team as a group at halftime. He’ll walk out of the locker room and let another coach handle it."

Adams added he hasn't spoken with the coach since he had his exit interview with the guy way back in December.

Jamal's criticism of his org didn't stop there, though ... Adams also blasted general manager Joe Douglas for the way he handled the star safety's contract negotiations this spring.

"Why would Joe come out and say, ‘We want to make Jamal a Jet for life?’” said Adams, who claims Douglas and the team never sent him a new contract offer this offseason.

"Why would you say that and then not even give me an offer? ... Don’t BS me. I’m a straightforward guy. You don’t have to BS me, because I’m going to keep it honest."

Of course, all of this comes just days after Adams blasted team owner Woody Johnson over allegations the guy made racist and sexist comments toward staffers.

As we previously reported ... Adams has been requesting a trade from the Jets for weeks -- and was even spotted in a public parking lot in June saying he hoped to be jettisoned to the Dallas Cowboys.

NY Jets owner Woody Johnson -- who's also the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. -- was investigated by the State Dept. over alleged racist and sexist comments to his staff, according to CNN.

Long story short, the CNN report paints Johnson as a racist, sexist meathead, who often made insensitive comments about minorities and women in the capacity of doing his job.

Here are some of the allegations ...

-- In 2018, Johnson allegedly made racist remarks before an event for Black History Month. CNN says he "appeared agitated and asked if the audience would be 'a whole bunch of Black people?'"

Multiple sources told CNN that Johnson openly questioned the need for Black History Month -- and "argued that Black fathers didn't remain with their families and that was the 'real challenge.'"

The incident was reported to the Office of the Inspector General, says CNN.

-- Multiple sources tell CNN that Johnson would hold official meetings at a fancy "men's only" club in London called "White's" -- where no female diplomats were allowed to attend.

-- Johnson is also accused of making all sorts of offensive statements about women during his job as ambassador ... many of which focused on looks.

CNN described some of the comments this way ... "According to one source, at certain public events, Johnson would start his remarks by quipping about how many pretty women were present -- reducing them to decorative objects in a way a source described as 'just sort of cringeworthy.'"

The State Dept. did not comment on the status of the investigation -- but told CNN that Woody is a "valued member of the team who has led Mission UK honorably and professionally."

"We stand by Ambassador Johnson and look forward to him continuing to ensure our special relationship with the UK is strong."

We reached out to the NY Jets for comment -- so far, no word back.

Johnson -- who was appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom by President Donald Trump in 2017 -- is an heir to the Johnson & Johnson empire.

He famously purchased the NY Jets in 2000 for $635 million.

Colin Kaepernick has NOT been signed with the NY Jets, as fake reports suggest -- but he IS reaching out to the team in hopes of landing a deal, TMZ Sports has learned.

Colin's name was trending on social media on Thursday thanks to a bogus report that CK inked a 1-year, $9 million deal with the Jets.

THAT'S FAKE NEWS -- but what's real is Colin's interest in Gang Green ... with sources telling us Colin feels he would be a great fit with the org.

Unclear if the feeling is mutual -- but the Jets don't really have a lot of depth behind Sam Darnold at the QB position, so it's not a crazy idea.

Our sources say Colin has continued to work out and train like a maniac ever since his NFL workout back in November, where he told teams to "stop being scared" and make an offer already!