Jets Considered Trading for First Overall Pick
One of the wildest NFL drafts in recent memory could have been even wilder, with news surfacing that the New York Jets looked into trading with the Tennessee Titans for the first overall pick.
When asked about the intrigue at a press conference on Friday, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan curtly replied, “The short answer is yes. The short answer is we enquired.†Currently sitting at twentieth overall, the Jets would likely have had to give up even more than the Rams, who moved up from fifteenth to first by way of sending a 2016 1st, 2nd and 3rd, along with a 2017 1st and 3rd the Titans’ way.
The news further confirms speculation that the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick are still a ways away from agreeing on a new contract. The veteran journeyman had the best season of his career in 2015, but age and an anomaly of success propped up by one of the league’s most reliable receiving tandems in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker has led some to believe Fitz was a one-season wonder, and will be back to his middling “best†by next year.
In looking to secure the draft’s first pick, the Jets must have seriously considered drafting a prospective franchise quarterback and cutting the cord with Fitzpatrick in the process. But with Jared Goff and Carson Wentz all but certainties to be claimed in the first two selections, the talent pool takes a noticeable drop in terms of who else has the capability of ascending to “day one starter†status.
It also defeats the purpose of the Jets trading with the Chargers or a similarly early-picking team. Unless New York is looking at a non-QB prospect that can be of immediate help to the team, it may prefer to just sit tight at twenty and evaluate the options from there.
Could Paxton Lynch still be a possibility? Might Bryce Petty make the sophomore leap and stake his claim to starter? Or will Geno Smith simply reclaim the role that would’ve been his were it not for last offseason’s unpleasantness? We’re at six days and counting.
