Could the New York Jets make a big trade in the 2022 offseason?
Former NFL scout and current NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah brought up an interesting hypothetical idea for the New York Jets on Thursday. In a tweet, Jeremiah suggested that the Jets (in addition to the New York Giants) could be a “middleman” in the NFL trade market this offseason.
NYJ & NYG could be pivotal players in trade market. If you want to trade for a vet QB (Watson, Wilson or Rodgers), they could be the middleman & supply picks for proven player(s).
NYJ/NYG send pick(s) to team X
Team X sends proven player(s) to NYJ/NYG
Team X sends picks for QB— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) February 16, 2022
“NYJ & NYG could be pivotal players in trade market. If you want to trade for a vet QB (Watson, Wilson or Rodgers), they could be the middleman & supply picks for proven player(s),” Jeremiah wrote.
Jeremiah envisions that the Jets or Giants could send draft picks to a quarterback-needy team in exchange for a proven player, while the quarterback-needy team could use those picks as ammunition to trade for a quarterback. While this is only speculation on Jeremiah’s part, it is certainly an intriguing and feasible possibility.
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There is certainly bound to be plenty of hoopla surrounding the futures of many star quarterbacks this offseason. Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers are each facing murky situations and could potentially join new teams this offseason. Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz are two other starter-quality quarterbacks that may be on the move.
Along with the abundance of available quarterbacks comes a new wave of quarterback-needy teams. The Steelers and Buccaneers must figure out their next step after the retirements of Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady. Other teams such as the Saints, Panthers, Commanders, and Broncos are lacking an established starter.
Of those aforementioned teams who could be in the quarterback market, the Saints are a franchise that seems to be among the most likely to execute a fire sale of its veteran players.
New Orleans is facing a dreadful cap situation and could look to off some salary. At the same time, the Saints need a quarterback and could look to use some of their acquired assets in either a trade for a verteran quarterback or a trade to move up in the draft for a quarterback. Wide receiver Michael Thomas is the biggest name that’s been floated around in Saints-related trade rumors.
The Jets could certainly benefit from the quarterback carousel in a roundabout way as Jeremiah suggested. Even if they cannot execute a “middleman” trade for a veteran player like Jeremiah proposed, the Jets could also execute a trade-down move on draft day to stockpile more draft picks.
New York already has nine selections in this year’s draft, four of which sit in the top-40, so the team is not in desperate need of more picks.
However, what could make a trade-down appealing for the Jets is the sheer vastness of the number of holes they have to fill on their roster. Amassing even more picks could help the Jets fill out a porous roster that can be improved at almost every position.
It will surely be interesting to see how the Jets are affected by the quarterback drama around the league.