Last year, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made headlines when he said, “it’s better to have volunteers than it is to have hostages.” Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Robert Saleh of the New York Jets made a similar remark when asked about Denzel Mims.
Mims, a third-year wide receiver out of Baylor, recently requested a trade from the Jets.
While Saleh understands that Mims might be frustrated with his current situation, he doesn’t view the former second-round pick as a hostage.
“Is he frustrated? Is he frustrated with all of us? Sure, I’m sure he is,” Saleh said, via ProFootballTalk. “He wants to play and for that, I don’t think he’s a hostage. It’s a lot easier to kick somebody out of the door if they want a trade if they’re jerks and that’s not Denzel, he’s a good young man and I love the way he approaches everything, even with this, the way he’s come about it, very professional, comes to meetings, practice, does all of it, so I guess I just don’t view him as a hostage.”
In his first two seasons with the Jets, Mims had 31 receptions for 490 yards.
Mims looked really impressive in the Jets’ preseason finale, hauling in seven passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. It was a nice showcase for the rest of the league.
With the regular season roughly a week away from starting, it’s unclear if the Jets will find a suitor for Mims.