INDIANAPOLIS — The Jets should start scouting the teams who are scouting the quarterbacks with googly eyes and other signs of falling in love.
The buzz Tuesday as the NFL combine got underway was that there might not be a quarterback worthy of a top-10 draft pick, which would mean the Jets have fewer options to consider with the No. 4 and No. 10 picks. If their phone isn’t ringing with trade offers, then the Jets are not getting the full benefit of having a young quarterback in place plus two top picks to deal to another team searching for its own Zach Wilson to build around.
So, what are the odds that Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik Willis or another quarterback is about to start making a climb and increasing the value of the Jets’ assets? Quarterbacks were on the 15-minute team interview cycle Tuesday night and scheduled to throw Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“It happens every year — quarterbacks do get pushed up,” said Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht, who has the impossible task of filling the retired Tom Brady’s shoes. “People are going to pick their poison, and other people may have them rated higher or lower than we do.”
The Jets are in a sweet spot if the trade market develops because the goal for the Broncos (No. 9) and Commanders (No. 11) would be to jump above the quarterback-needy Panthers (No. 6). If trading up to No. 4 is too cost-prohibitive for some partners, No. 10 could draw interest from the Saints (No. 18), Steelers (No. 20) and Buccaneers (No. 27), especially if all quarterbacks remain available after nine picks.
“As we get closer to the draft, we see what teams filled in free agency and their [remaining] needs,” Broncos GM George Paton said. “That’s huge to know what people in front of you may or may not take. You look at everything.”
The consensus among draft gurus is that all five quarterbacks drafted in the first round last April would be graded higher than the top option in this class. OK … but — unless journeymen and failed starters Drew Lock, Taylor Heinicke, Sam Darnold, Taysom Hill, Mason Rudolph and Blaine Gabbert all are going to lead teams in 2022 — there still is a need for new blood.
“I believe it’s a quality class,” Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said. “There might not be the number of players at that position that there have been in the past, but there are going to be starting NFL quarterbacks coming out of this class, for sure.”
Only once this century (2013) has a draft not included a quarterback among the top five picks. The NFL was proven right to devalue a class topped by E.J. Manuel (No. 16 to the Bills) and Jets’ second-rounder Geno Smith. But teams who passed in 2017 on Patrick Mahomes (No. 10) and Deshaun Watson (No. 12) might think differently.
“It’s the most important position in sports, so we’re always looking,” Paton said. “No stone unturned to find that guy. We know we need better play out of the quarterback position. So, we’re going to be aggressive.”
The Jets already have the most draft capital with two second-rounders and a third-rounder all among the top 70 picks. So, it’s not like they are looking to acquire a package of picks to accumulate more throws at the dartboard.
But a team willing to trade a veteran — even one who needs an extension, given the Jets’ $48 million in salary cap space — makes more sense in the win-now phase of a rebuild. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah suggested the Jets could act as a middleman by acquiring high-end players for one of their first-rounders then watching as their pick gets flipped again in exchange for a trade-seeking veteran quarterback.
The wild card for the Jets could be Colbert, who is retiring after the draft and could follow the path of former Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, who gifted Lamar Jackson to his successor on his way out. Pickett played his college home games at the Steelers’ Heinz Field.
“We try not to say [we’re trading] a third and a sixth,” Colbert said as a one trade example. “That could be [Pro Bowl receivers] Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. We’re always trying to put a name with a pick in a given year and make sure we think that’s an equal trade.”
