The New York Jets have just made the NFL Draft a little more interesting. The team announced Saturday it has acquired the No. 3 overall pick of the draft in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts, per Austin Knoblauch of NFL.com. There is speculation the team wanted to move ahead of the Denver Broncos at No. 5 to grab the second quarterback off the board.
Per the story, the Jets are sending their sixth, 37th and 49th overall selections in this year’s draft and their second-rounder in 2019 to Indianapolis.
The Jets have both Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater on the roster, but the team has a chance to get draft UCLA’s Josh Rosen or USC signal caller Sam Darnold. There is a belief if the Cleveland Browns do not take either of those two quarterbacks, the team will chose running back Saquon Barkley out of Penn State.
The New York Giants could take Barkley at No. 2 or grab either Rosen or Darnold. If both players are off the board with the first two picks, the New York Jets could select Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen or Oklahoma quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, Baker Mayfield.
“According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, the Jets explored all options before pulling off Saturday’s trade with the Colts — general manager Mike Maccagnan even looked at the possibility of trying to pull off a deal with the Browns for No. 1,” Knoblauch writes.
The Colts are in a “wait and see situation” with Andrew Luck as he did not play in 2017 because of a shoulder injury that did not heal. The Browns, Giants, Jets and Broncos could all draft quarterbacks in the first five picks in April.
Denver brought in Case Keenum from Minnesota during free agency. The Giants have Eli Manning and Davis Webb under contract.