Will the Jets Trade Back From No. 34 in the Second Round?

Will the Jets trade back from the No. 34 selection in the second round of the NFL draft after trading up in the first round to take lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker?

Michael Karas/NorthJersey.com

After trading away two third-round picks to go get Alijah Vera-Tucker 14th overall on Thursday, the Jets have a decision to make. 

Will New York stay with the No. 34 pick at the beginning of the second round, choosing from an assortment of talented assets that are still available after falling through the first, or move back to acquire an additional selection later on and make up for the lost picks?

Joe Douglas was asked that very question on Thursday night and the general manager said he and his team are going to discuss all possible options heading into the second day of the draft on Friday night.

"We've been able to acquire a lot of picks and you saw the flexibility that that gave us tonight. We'll see how tomorrow goes," Douglas told reporters. "Obviously, we're gonna have discussions, we'll see if the phone rings, we're open to any discussion, as I've told you guys in the past. We'll see how it plays out over the next two days."

Douglas has a point. We've talked for months about the draft capital that this organization has accumulated, a surplus of picks that allows a team to a make a move like the one they did on Thursday.

In other words, if the Jets elect to stay put at No. 34, they'll sit through the third round, waiting until the 108th overall pick in the fourth to be on the clock again. Even then, the Jets would still have a few picks at their disposal in the later rounds of this draft (and, of course, the early rounds of next year's draft as well).

Besides, picking second in the second round means New York will be choosing from the likes of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Azeez Ojulari, Devonte Williams, Asante Samuel Jr. and more. Those are first-round caliber players that slipped to this point in the draft.

Some top available players Friday include Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Christian Barmore, Azeez Ojulari, Trevon Moehrig, Elijah Moore, Rondale Moore, Nico Collins, Javonte Williams, Pat Freiermuth, Nick Bolton, Baron Browning and Asante Samuel Jr.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 30, 2021

The other option would be to accept a tempting deal from a club eager to trade up and get one of those aforementioned players. If New York can snag a third-rounder—in addition to a pick later in the second—in return for No. 34, it would be hard for Douglas to say no. 

It just depends on New York's internal evaluations of who is available at the start of the second round. If they look at any of those prospects in the same light as Vera-Tucker—who they went after in round one—then there's much less of a reason to trade back.

Douglas hinted at trading up in the first when he was asked a few weeks ago about the possibility of making a move, saying he was laying the groundwork for a transaction just in case. 

The Jets will certainly field some calls throughout the day on Friday and once again, they're in the driver's seat.

MORE:

• Jets Prioritized Protection By Trading Up For Vera-Tucker
• Did the Jets Just Draft the 'Next Patrick Mahomes' in Zach Wilson?
• Zach Wilson: Getting Drafted By Jets Was 'Exactly What I Was Hoping For'

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