Ex-Jets GM Hints At Major 2025 Draft Trade Centered Around Quarterback Position

How will the Jets attack the draft?

Aug 17, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; New York Jets helmets during the second half against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The New York Jets are not in a particularly advantageous position headed into the NFL Draft.

Coming off a dismal 5-12 season, the Jets hold the seventh-overall pick. That's a solid place to be for some teams, but the Jets have an opening at the quarterback position, and this season, there won't likely be a young QB New York feels comfortable with dropping to seven.

If the Jets want to get their hands on one of the top two quarterback prospects in the draft (Miami's Cam Ward or Colorado's Shedeur Sanders), they'll have to take a big risk, mortgaging future draft assets to trade up with one of the teams in front of them that doesn't need a signal-caller.

One former Jets general manager, who made a similar move 16 years ago, sees such a trade as a distinct possibility.

Mike Tannenbaum, who held the Jets' GM title from 2006 to 2012, recently discussed the possibility of the Jets making a major trade involving their first-round pick, similar to his acquisition of the number-nine pick in the 2009 draft that landed QB Mark Sanchez.

“If they traded up, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Tannenbaum said during an appearance on the Jake Asman Show on Thursday. “But, likewise, if they sign a veteran quarterback [in free agency] maybe they trade back in round one and try to acquire as many picks as possible.”

It seems as though Tannenbaum almost expects the Jets to move out of that seven spot. Some of the free-agent options he's referencing could be Justin Fields, Kirk Cousins (if the Falcons cut him), or former Jet Sam Darnold.

The Jets would be putting a lot of eggs in the Ward or Sanders basket if they chose to trade up. And the more picks they felt they needed to jump forward in order to ensure they got their guy, the more it would cost them.

We'll find out by April if new GM Darren Mougey has the confidence in either of the two young QBs to take such drastic measures.

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