Garrett Wilson Expects Jets To Make Playoffs, Calls Chances 'very Realistic'

The Jets haven't made the playoffs since 2010, the longest-active drought in the NFL. 

If you ask Garrett Wilson, though, the star wide receiver not only thinks they have what it takes to snap that streak this year, he expects them to. 

Wilson spoke to reporters Tuesday and gave a bold prediction for the team coming of a three-win season. 

"Playoffs… Nothing else," he emphasized. 

Wilson continued by saying he thinks it is a "very realistic" goal and that it should happen, now the team's job is to"go play ball and do it."

Selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Wilson is one of the longest tenured Jets, and has been around for four consecutive losing seasons. He's seen coaches, teammates and front office personnel come and go while New York has been unable to get over the hump, finishing no better than third in the division each year.

But after signing a four-year, $130 million contract extension in July of 2025, Wilson, who has been one of the most productive players for New York when he's been on the field since his debut, figures to be here for the long haul and wants to be a part of the solution for Gang Green.

"I’m a competitive guy. I go to work with these guys every day for the last 4-5 months since April so I’ve seen everything I need to see out of the guys we have and I’ve done things differently, personally, to try and play my role to the best of my ability this year to help fill in what was missing these past years that’s been keeping us from getting there," Wilson said. "So something’s gonna happen this year and I’m also a faithful guy so I believe that. The work’s been put in, we have as good of an opportunity as anyone else in this league and I’m excited. We got a hell of a group here."

The alternative to Wilson's belief is another season down the drain for the Jets, who, on top of missing the playoffs for 15 straight seasons, haven't had a winning record in 10 years.

Wilson admitted that season's past have affected him mentally, and that he and the other surviving players during this difficult era have talked ad nauseam about what can be done to change things around and turn over a new leaf.

"I’d be lying if I said that’s not like all we talk about - what’s missing? How do we get over this hump? What can we do?" he said. "You get yourself in a black hole trying to figure it out and the reality of it is when you go out on the field on Sunday all of that kind of goes away… You’re trained, you’re prepared and we’re excited... We’re dying to get this thing rolling."

Wilson continued: "It ain’t like you just let it go and have a season and then don’t talk about it. We all love this game, we all expect to win every time we take the field – after we don’t, that’s all that clogs your mind. All of a sudden you think the day wasn’t good, the week wasn’t good, right? And that’s the reality of our lives. You’re trying to rid of that... For us, it weighs on our shoulders even more because the roots we set here, you know?"

New York will be entering Year 2 of the Aaron Glenn era as head coach and is hoping things go much better than a 3-14 finish with a -203 point-differential in his first season. To help in that quest, the Jets brought in veteran quarterback Geno Smith, who returns to New York after nine seasons after he began his career with Gang Green in 2013 as a second-round draft pick.

The Jets also expect to have Wilson for a full season after he missed significant time with multiple knee injuries last year and benefit from being Smith's No. 1 target. The hope is the combination of Smith and Wilson, as well as running back Breece Hall, can be a dynamic trio for a team that has been starved of offense lately.

"I love just the way that he prepares," Smith said about Wilson. "You see a young, talented guy who can run all the routes, has great hands – has the physical ability – but the stuff that he does behind the scenes, the way that he works, he gets in super early… and that’s when you know you have a special player. So I look forward to getting out there and competing with him because I think he’s gonna be a special player in this league and is gonna have a great year."

"I’m a competitive guy. I don’t take the field expecting to lose because of what the expectation is out of this building," Wilson said.