New York Jets President, Hymie Elhai, owner, Woody Johnson, general manager, Darren Mougey, head coach, Aaron Glenn and vice chairman, Christopher Johnson, pose for a photograph, Monday, January 27, 2025, in Florham Park.
New York Jets President, Hymie Elhai, owner, Woody Johnson, general manager, Darren Mougey, head coach, Aaron Glenn and vice chairman, Christopher Johnson, pose for a photograph, Monday, January 27, 2025, in Florham Park. / Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The New York Jets are at a critical turning point in their franchise’s history.
After a dismal 5-12 season, the Jets brought in a new head coach (Aaron Glenn) and general manager (Darren Mougey) in tandem. The two will be tasked with reshaping the roster, creating a winning culture, and pulling the team out of the longest active playoff drought in the NFL.
Further complicating the situation is 40-year-old starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who hasn’t yet determined if he wishes to play this season for the Jets, for another team, or not at all. What Rodgers decides, and whether the Jets wish to retain him anyway, has major ramifications for the direction of the franchise.
Say the Jets want to move on completely from Rodgers, though, and select a quarterback at the top of the NFL Draft. Because they have the seventh pick, they’d have to trade up, and the most logical way to control the outcome is to land the number-one pick, which is owned by the Tennessee Titans
In a Wednesday article, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon predicted what the Jets would have to surrender to land the Titans’ number-one pick: the number-seven pick in this year’s draft, the Jets’ 2026 first-round pick, plus their 2025 second-round pick
“(The Jets) pick seventh and might be fired up to replace Aaron Rodgers, if indeed that experiment ends between now and draft day,” Gagnon wrote.
“If so, we’re of course again looking at next year’s first as well as immediate Day 2 draft capital. And in this case, that’d potentially have to outweigh what the Raiders have on the table, as New York would be moving up from seven instead of six.”
That’s a lot to give up in any draft class, but this year in particular, it’s an iffy proposition. A quarterback isn’t a lock to go number one at all, and regardless of whether Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is considered the best QB in this class, most believe next year’s signal-callers have more promise.
The Jets would be justified to exercise some caution and not sell the farm for the rights to Ward or Sanders. But one never knows how a front office might evaluate college quarterbacks, so maybe Mougey has already begun plotting.
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