Jets general manager Joe Douglas will tell folks the team is considering all options in the first round. Those options include trading back from No. 10 if the board falls a certain way. And in a recent mock draft that included all trades from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, that’s the route the Jets decide to go.
Barnwell suggested a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, who sit at No. 13, as there could still be a scenario in which Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy is still on the board when the Jets are on the clock at No. 10. The advantage there for the Jets is that the three teams right behind them on the board (No. 11 Vikings, No. 12 Broncos, No. 13 Raiders) all need long-term quarterback solutions. Of the three, only the Raiders have a second-round pick to send to the Jets. The Vikings do have No. 23 in the first round, but they likely would not send that pick just to move up one spot from 11 to 10.
So in this case, the Jets drop down three spots and get a second-round pick (No. 44). The Jets also acquire second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell in the deal. The Jets are going to move on from Zach Wilson at some point and O’Connell would get a chance to develop as the No. 3 quarterback behind Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor and eventually become the backup. O’Connell has some flashy moments as a rookie last season in what was a rough situation.
Here’s what Barnwell had to say about the potential deal:
It’s not out of the question that J.J. McCarthy is still on the board when the Jets pick here. Pre-draft quarterback chatter can turn out to be nothing more than idle speculation or near-misses. Remember that in 2021 the 49ers were reportedly interested in Mac Jones at No. 3 before he fell to the Patriots at No. 15. They were also considering Aaron Rodgers with the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, but when they chose Alex Smith, Rodgers fell all the way to the Packers at No. 24. Neither team ended up needing to move up the board to land its quarterback, although those two signal-callers obviously had very different effects on their respective franchises.
In this scenario, I have to believe the three teams below the Jets wouldn’t be willing to play a game of quarterback chicken. The Vikings, Broncos and Raiders all need a long-term solution at the position, and it wouldn’t cost all that much to move up with the Jets and land that passer. There’s a fun universe in which the Raiders get Davante Adams involved with this trade to reunite Rodgers and Adams, but nothing about Las Vegas’ offseason has suggested the franchise believes it is in the middle of a rebuild.
At the cost of a second-round pick, would the Raiders be willing to jump ahead of the Vikings and Broncos to land McCarthy? Neither team has a second-rounder in this draft to match Vegas’ offer. The Vikings have another first-rounder (No. 23), but would they really send it to move up one spot? (The Jets don’t have a second-rounder to send back, either.)
In this deal, New York GM Joe Douglas would get back a top-50 pick after sending a second-rounder to the Packers in the Rodgers trade last year. The Jets would also get a potential backup for Rodgers in O’Connell, who exceeded expectations in a hopeless situation a year ago. And frankly, while moving down three spots in Round 1, they still might be able to draft the same player they wanted at No. 10.
Even with trading back to No. 13, the Jets should still have the opportunity to select either Washington offensive lineman Troy Fautanu or Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, securing extra depth and a future starter up front.
