It seems like the Jets have been in every major wide receiver trade discussion this offseason, and it doesn’t sound like that will stop after Joe Douglas failed to acquire Tyreek Hill.
New York reportedly also expressed interest in Calvin Ridley and Amari Cooper, among others, but nothing ever materialized for various reasons. But Douglas insinuated the Jets will continue to be aggressive in the veteran trade market this past week, even though he believes in the team’s current crop of pass-catchers.
“I feel good about the wide receivers we have,” Douglas said Wednesday. “We had the opportunity to keep adding to it. If the opportunity is right and the price is right, we’re willing to strike.”
While he has nothing to show for it yet, Douglas has been aggressive with his words and actions. He appears willing to do anything and everything to give Zach Wilson a top-flight pass catcher, and that’s the right approach at this juncture. Just look at how much the Bills, Cardinals and Cowboys helped their young quarterbacks after trading for Stefon Diggs, DeAndre Hopkins and Cooper, respectively.
Now ESPN’s Rich Cimini says the Jets are keeping an eye on three receivers in the final year of their rookie contracts: A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf and Deebo Samuel. Jets WR Elijah Moore played with Brown and Metcalf in college, while Samuel knows most of Robert Saleh’s staff from their time in San Francisco together.
There is no indication any of those three are available, though. The Titans said they aren’t trading Brown and intend to sign him long-term. The Seahawks said the same thing about Metcalf and the 49ers have “a plan” to keep Samuel around “for a long, long time.”
But talk is cheap, and Douglas proved in the Hill negotiations that he’s willing to part with premium assets and sign good players to long-term extensions. His mantra is to be aggressive without being reckless, so it stands to reason that a package similar to the one the Jets offered the Chiefs for Hill would be on the table for someone like Brown, Metcalf or Samuel as well.
Whether or not any of them pan out remains to be seen. Either way, the sentiment is sound and correct if the Jets want to be competitive in 2022. There are a lot of great receivers in the NFL, and the Jets want to make sure they’re at least attacking the market to find a player who can reshape their offense.
