Arms race: Trade shows Jets won’t settle at QB
Determined to solve their longstanding need for a franchise quarterback, the New York Jets agreed to a deal with the Indianapolis Colts that affords them perhaps their best possible shot at accomplishing that goal.
The Jets agreed Saturday to send the sixth overall pick of the draft, both of their second-round picks (37th and
49th) and a 2019 second-rounder to Indianapolis for the third overall pick.
That’s quite a haul to move up three spots. But the third overall pick gives the Jets their highest selection since they took Keyshawn Johnson first in
1996. Although the draft class features potentially five or six first-round passers, management didn’t want to risk missing out on one of the team’s top choices.
Most analysts rank the top quarterbacks as UCLA’s Josh Rosen, Southern California’s Sam Darnold, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen, respectively, with Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Oklahoma State’s Ma- son Rudolph also in the mix for the first round.
The Jets went into the offseason determined to find a franchise quarterback. They badly wanted Kirk Cousins and pursued him aggressively in free agency. But general manager Mike Maccagnan said at the scouting combine that the team had a plan A, B and C for quarterback.
After missing out on Cousins, who signed a three-year, $84 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings (all fully guaranteed), the Jets signed Teddy Bridgewater — a young talent but coming off a major knee injury — and resigned 15-year veteran Josh McCown, their starter for 15 games last season. But both are on one-year deals.
The other part of the plan now appears to include the drafting of one of the top few prospects. The Cleveland Browns hold the first and fourth overall picks and could use one on a signal-caller. The Giants hold the second pick and could tab a successor to Eli Manning, but they also could look to address other positions.
The Buffalo Bills have been working to move up the draft, sending the 21st pick and tackle Cordy Glenn to the Cin- cinnati Bengals for the 12th pick, in an apparent attempt to improve their chances of getting one of the top quarterbacks. Bills general manager Brandon Beane said the team might not swing another trade or take a quarterback, but the team had widely been ex- pected to make another deal to rise up the draft order, including perhaps with the Colts.
That would have hampered the Jets’ efforts of landing their prime target. Now team officials don’t have to worry about that.
Should the Jets opt for a quarterback at No. 3, it would mark the highest draft pick the team has invested at the position since taking Joe Namath first overall in the 1964 AFL draft. Since 1992, the Jets have drafted 13 quarterbacks. In
2009, they traded up to take Mark Sanchez with the fifth pick, but the USC star failed to live up to expectations — a common refrain for the team at the position.
Meanwhile, Indianapolis is determined to upgrade a roster littered with holes. The season-long injury absence of quarterback Andrew Luck exposed how many needs the Colts had without a difference-maker passer to mask them, as the team finished last in sacks allowed (56) and 31st in sacks generated
(25).
By stockpiling picks, the Colts have a better chance of pulling off their homeimprovement project at an accelerated rate.