The New York Jets are in a full rebuild. By winning two games, they placed themselves out of the running for the number one overall pick that will almost assuredly become Trevor Lawrence. With the second overall pick now, New York has a big decision to make regarding Sam Darnold.
Trading Sam Darnold will make that decision easier, allowing them to pick one of the remaining quarterbacks on the board with the second pick or using that pick to secure a proven NFL-level quarterback.
Here are possible trade destinations for Sam Darnold.
Seattle Seahawks
With rumors swirling that Russell Wilson is unhappy in Seattle, the Jets may want to see if they can convince the Seahawks to deal both the second overall pick and Sam Darnold (among other things) in return for Wilson.
The Jets need picks to complete their rebuild and they have plenty of them. But trading for a player like Wilson may cost them most, if not all of those picks. The upshot is that the quarterback position will be set for the foreseeable future. Wilson is in his prime and is one of the best players in the entire NFL, so the only issue would be keeping him happy.
Again, the amount of picks the Jets would have to lose to make this happen makes this trade less likely, due to their lack of talent. With Wilson’s running prowess and ability to elevate receivers, however, the offense would need a lot less work through the draft.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts are in search of a new quarterback after Philip Rivers announced his retirement. Sam Darnold’s true capabilities have not been mined and the Colts’ excellent coaching staff should have confidence they can raise him to his potential.
With this trade, the Jets can absolutely keep the number two overall pick and would have to draft a quarterback, because the Colts do not have a starting-level quarterback to trade back. However, the multiple late-draft picks they would surely get back would help coach Robert Saleh’s rebuild immensely.
There would be little to no controversy to this trade, as long as the Colts do not overpay for Darnold. Indianapolis gets a project behind a great offensive line, the Jets get to draft a rookie to restart the franchise. Seems fair for both sides.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos are no strangers to switching up their quarterback. Since Peyton Manning left the team, Denver has had ten different quarterbacks start a game (including the week their quarterback room was decimated by COVID-19).
Sam Darnold may as well be the eleventh. Given what we have seen out of Darnold, he is not a huge upgrade from Drew Lock, but GM John Elway is always looking for the next guy and as has been said, Darnold has not reached his full potential. He very well could in Denver.
Lock could be included in the trade, but the Jets would still have to draft a rookie. Again, as long as the Broncos do not overpay, there would not be a lot of controversy around this trade.
Houston Texans
Deshaun Watson wants out of Houston, but he has a no trade clause. He likely does not want to go to a rebuilding team, but here is a case for the trade anyway.
Watson has the chance to be the face of a New York franchise and can start building a relationship with Saleh that will surely translate to him having a big say in roster moves. He clearly wants to be more involved and immediately will be able to shape the offense around his skills with the Jets.
The Texans can secure a bunch of the Jets’ picks here, including the second overall pick, which they could again trade for more picks or draft a player like Zach Wilson and have a quarterback competition. The main draw here is getting value for a player who wants to leave the franchise badly.
Watson accepting the trade is the key here. Whether or not he would be sold on the move would be up to the GMs of each team selling him correctly. It makes sense for both sides, though.
Featured Image courtesy of Mark Brown/Getty Images
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