Jets Trade Up to No. 3 Send No. 6 and Picks to Colts

The top of the 2018 NFL was shuffled on Saturday when the New York Jets completed a big trade with the Indianapolis Colts. The trade puts the Jets into a better position to pick what they hope to be the team’s franchise quarterback.

New York moved to No. 3, or up three picks, while they sent their No. 6 pick overall, a pair of second round picks in 2018 and a second round pick in 2019 to Indianapolis, whose general manager Chris Ballard indicated that the teams had been discussing the possibility of such a trade since the start of the week.

Ballard said the Jets showed an interest in moving up to in the draft and the talks went back and forth the last four to five days. Ballard also said he had spoken to a few other teams, but wanted to remain in a place to draft a premium player and feels with the No. 6 pick they can still do that.

The 2018 NFL draft will be held April 26-28.

After not succeeding in signing Kirk Cousins the top free agent signal caller available, New York decided to go with their second option. The Jets re-signed veteran quarterback Josh McCown and free agent Teddy Bridgewater then focused on moving up in the draft.

With New York now having the No. 3 overall pick, Buffalo will have to pay a huge price if they want to leapfrog their AFC East rival and draft their preferred quarterback.

Over the past few days, Mike Maccagnan the GM has been at pro days for both Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield. He also plans to attend the pro days for Josh Allen and Sam Darnold.

This is the fourth time the New York Jets traded up for a top 10 pick, with the last time back in 2009 when they traded for the No. 5 pick and selected QB Mark Sanchez.

This trade was positive for the Colts as it allows the team to add more depth to a roster that is thin when it comes to talent. Indianapolis has nine picks to the draft this year, including four out of the top 50.

Ballard added that the Colts would remain open with the sixth pick to move down, but at this point feels good about their position and something very attractive would have to present itself for them to trade the six spot away.