Jets Interested in Trading Down in First Round of 2024 NFL Draft, Per Report

New York holds the No. 10 overall selection.

Robert Saleh and Aaron Rodgers / Ethan Miller/GettyImages

The New York Jets haven't made headlines in the same way they did last offseason, when they traded for Aaron Rodgers, but they've been active nonetheless. New York took big swings on injury-prone but talented players at positions of great need, such as left tackle (Tyron Smith) and wide receiver (Mike Williams). The Jets' best chance to add impact players will come in a few weeks during the 2024 NFL Draft.

Not only is this year's draft particularly deep at the aforementioned positions of need for New York, the Jets are in an excellent spot to add a foundational talent. They own the No. 10 overall pick in the draft and, obviously, do not need a quarterback. With as many as four signal-callers expected to go in the first five picks, the Jets can sit back and see which top prospects fall their way.

It seems one path they're strongly considering is trading down to acquire more assets, ideally from a team desperate to nab one of the aforementioned top quarterbacks. ESPN's Rich Cimini reported as much over the weekend.

What they'd really like is a trade proposal from a quarterback-needy team, which would allow them to acquire a top-100 pick. A handful of teams behind them, most notably the Minnesota Vikings (11th), Denver Broncos (12th) and Las Vegas Raiders (13th), might be motivated to move up.

It probably will be contingent on the availability of a top quarterback -- Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy. Problem is, it's unlikely that one of them will slip to 10. The Jets need Bo Nix to get so hot that a team wants to jump the crowd for him. A team also may covet the Jets' pick as part of a leapfrog plan to a higher spot.

This draft is rich with talent at cornerstone positions and so the Jets are not the only team interested in getting more picks. There are many organizations who would prefer to get more bites at the apple, so to speak, by loading up on mid-round picks. Franchise-changing talent can be found at all levels of the draft, after all.

The Jets are particularly incentivized to acquire more picks for this year. They gave up their own second-rounder to bring Rodgers aboard last April, which means the team only has two picks in the top-100 selections. Adding one or two more would allow a higher chance of finding an instant contributor.

That's the other part of the equation. The Jets are all-in for 2024. Rodgers will be 41 years old and coming off an Achilles injury. Nobody knows how long he's going to stick around before calling it a career. Furthermore, it's hard to see any decision-makers surviving another year of missing the playoffs. The Jets shelled out a lot of money and assets to build the team around Rodgers. Results have to follow. New York's efforts to produce those desired results would be aided in the short- and long-term if they struck gold on one or two young players in the 2024 draft.

The best way to do that? Use as many picks as possible. The Jets know that. The problem is, so does everybody else. New York's desired deal will not come easily. They will need to get lucky with how the board falls. If they do, the Jets have already put out signals that they are open for business.

Liam McKeone is an editor at The Big Lead.