Overjoyed Jets cap busy week with hug
Robert Saleh couldn’t help but smile, reach over in his chair and give Joe Douglas a big hug.
It has been that kind of week for the New York Jets coach, who has seen his general manager acquire Aaron Rodgers and then add seven young players in the NFL draft.
“We got better this week,” a grinning Saleh said Saturday. “A lot better this week.”
The Jets added a few big guys up front and some protectors for Rodgers to lead off their draft haul. They also got a speedy playmaker for their new quarterback.
It was all capped by that celebratory embrace during the Jets’ news conference to wrap up the draft. “It’s been a fun week,” Saleh said.
Building in the trenches was the theme for the Jets early on, starting with the selection Thursday night of edge rusher Will McDonald with the 15th overall pick. McDonald is expected to be part of the Jets’ defensive line rotation that gets even more speed with the former Iowa State star coming off the edge.
Wisconsin center Joe Tippmann was New York’s secondround pick Friday night, and he will compete with veteran Connor McGovern for the starting job. Pittsburgh offensive tackle Carter Warren, who could also be an eventual starter, went in the fourth round Saturday.
The Jets also drafted Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda in the fifth round, Western Michigan linebacker Zaire Barnes and LSU cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse in the sixth, and Old Dominion tight end Zack Kuntz with their final pick in the seventh.
Eagles acquire Swift
After the rare move of taking a running back in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions moved to clear the decks for Jahmyr Gibbs, the No. 12 selection.
To that end, they traded incumbent running back D’Andre Swift to the Eagles.
The Eagles sent a fourthround pick in 2025 and a seventh-round selection (No. 219) this year to the Lions, who sent a seventh-round pick (No. 249) back.
The 24-year-old Swift returns to his hometown, where he graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep, a short drive from Lincoln Financial Field.
A second-round pick in 2020, Swift has rushed for 1,680 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons. In 2022, he totaled 542 rushing yards on 99 carries, adding 48 catches for 389 yards and three scores despite missing three games due to ankle and shoulder injuries.
The Eagles lost Miles Sanders in free agency and signed former Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny. Along with Swift and Penny, the defending NFC champions have Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell.
Gibbs, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry for the Crimson Tide last season, and free agent signee David Montgomery will form the Lions’ backfield punch.
Rams get Bennett
Stetson Bennett will get a chance to deliver for the Los Angeles Rams.
Georgia’s two-time national championship-winning quarterback was selected by the Rams in the fourth round of the draft, uniting him with coach Sean McVay and fellow former Bulldogs signal-caller Matthew Stafford on the West Coast.
The 25-year-old Bennett’s unlikely route from junior college to the pinnacle of collegiate success has been well documented, but the NFL worthiness of the quirky quarterback known as “The Mailman” has been hotly debated for years. The Rams clearly believe in the 5-foot-11inch passer with a proven knack for winning and making big throws in big games, even if his measurable talents don’t match other prospects.
“I love competing against the best, and it helps when you’ve got the best on your team,” Bennett said. “I think we do, not that I know that much. But obviously, if you’ve won a Super Bowl in the past few years, you know what you’re doing. I’m excited to learn.
“It’s an honor that those coaches and GM thought enough of me to pick me, and now it’s my job to go and get better every day.”
Bennett is the first quarterback drafted by the Rams since McVay became their head coach in 2017. He will join Stafford, the Super Bowl winner who is under contract for the next four seasons.
No surprise here
The Los Angeles Chargers exercised their fifth-year option on Justin Herbert on Friday as they work toward signing their franchise quarterback to a long-term deal.
Meanwhile, general manager Tom Telesco said the Chargers would not be picking up the option for linebacker Kenneth Murray.
The deadline for teams to pick up the fifth-year option on first-round picks from the 2020 draft class is Tuesday.
Herbert, the sixth overall selection in that draft, is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards in each of his first three seasons. Since entering the league, he is second in completions (1,316), third in passing yards (14,089), and sixth in passing touchdowns (94).
By virtue of being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2021, Herbert’s fifth-year option is worth $29.5 million, the same as Cincinnati’s
Joe Burrow, who was the top pick in 2020. Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa, who went one pick before Herbert, also had his option picked up at $23.17 million.