Espn Projects Jets Paying An Outrageous Price To Move Up To Draft Thei

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Jan 11, 2026, 7:27 AM

espn projects jets paying an outrageous price to move up to draft thei

The New York Jets hold more draft ammunition than any team in football, but one new projection suggests they might need nearly all of it to land their quarterback of the future in the... In a recent ESPN mock draft, Matt Miller mapped out an aggressive scenario in which the Jets would package both of their 2026 first-round picks — including the one acquired in the Sauce Gardner... 1 and select Indiana star Fernando Mendoza. That's a hefty price to pay, seeing as the projection has the Jets moving up just three spots. We’re still five months away from the 2026 NFL Draft, and plenty can (and will) change. But the logic behind the move is obvious.

Justin Fields has been benched, Tyrod Taylor is a short-term solution, and general manager Darren Mougey didn't stockpile five first-round picks across 2026 and 2027 just to watch someone else take the top quarterback... Still, moving up just three spots for Mendoza would be an outrageous swing at football’s most important position. ESPN's Matt Miller has constructed a new NFL mock draft based on league standings through 11 weeks, and he predicts that the New York Jets will make the draft's biggest splash. Miller projects a trade between the Jets and Tennessee Titans that would put the Jets at the top of the draft, a position where they can have their choosing of the best quarterback in... Since the Titans used their 2025 No. 1 pick on quarterback Cam Ward, they could be persuaded to move down and accumulate draft capital to build around their young QB.

In this deal, the Jets would send both of their first-round picks (Nos. 4 and 28) and their 2027 second-round pick to the Titans for the top selection. After numerous moves, most notably the deadline trades of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner, the Jets currently have 11 picks in the 2026 draft, including two first-round picks and two second-round... They also have nine picks in 2027, including three first-rounders. So, the Jets could make the deal mentioned by Miller above and still have nine picks this year and eight next year. Here are your Saturday Jets links to kick off your weekend.

Bent - Which quarterbacks could Jets target in 2026 NFL Draft? Michael Nania - Is there a higher power involved in the NY Jets’ struggles? Jack Bell - Notebook | OC Tanner Engstrand on WR AD Mitchell: ‘We Haven’t Scratched the Surface’ Susanna Weir - As Jets Search for Offensive Production in Week 12, RB Breece Hall Said ‘It’s All About Execution’ The New York Jets need a new quarterback this offseason. ESPN’s Aaron Schatz predicts that the Jets will strike a trade with the Arizona Cardinals this offseason to acquire Kyler Murray.

“Big prediction for the offseason: The Jets will trade for Kyler Murray and give him his second chance in the NFL. Murray is a bad fit for teams that want to run a lot of under-center offense, but the Jets ran the eighth-most shotgun or pistol sets through Week 17 in 2025. A trade for Murray’s big contract would likely cost very little in draft capital,” Schatz explained. The former Texas A&M and Oklahoma product has three years remaining on his $230.5 million contract. “Murray (and his contract) were left over from the prior regime. There’s still no easy exit — Murray is due $36.8 million fully guaranteed in 2026, with another $19.5 million set to become fully guaranteed if he’s on the roster March 15 — but a...

The focus will likely be how, not if, Arizona moves on from Murray,” NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport wrote. Chris Pedota / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The New York Jets will once again be in the quarterback market in 2026. After foolishly spurning Aaron Rodgers in the offseason, the Jets turned to Justin Fields, who has proven to be totally inept and a complete waste of money. Now, the Jets are benching Fields for Tyrod Taylor, who obviously has no future with this team given the fact he's 36 years old. The Jets have a few options for 2026, one of which is, of course, drafting a quarterback.

But they could also bring in a veteran signal-caller. The NFL draft rumor mill is heating up with a lot of discussion surrounding both New York teams considering moving up into a top position to grab a QB. I wanted to go back and look at just how much was given up in draft capital to acquire other QB’s selected in the top 10 since we moved into the new rookie wage... Here were the costs associated with selecting the QB’s drafted in the top 5 of the draft using the Fitzgerald-Spielberger trade value charts. The numbers here are pretty massive. The average return is essentially the point value of the 1st pick in the NFL draft, meaning that to give up a top QB prospect you anticipate receiving the equivalent of two top picks...

The most aggressive trade, by far, was the Commanders move up to select RGIII with the 2nd pick in the draft. Griffin at the time was considered to be as good as any top overall selection in the draft who just happened to be coming out the same year as Andrew Luck, who was considered... If we were to bump his value up to t hat of the 1st pick in the draft it would still be a pretty aggressive trade but a little more in line with everyone... The least aggressive trade was the move up for Mitchell Trubisky by the Bears. If I remember correctly the 49ers really were not aware of who the Bears were taking. In discussions they thought it might be a QB but were not sure since the Bears had just signed free agent Mike Glennon to be their QB.

I think it may be safe to say that the trade value here did not reflect a QB premium. The hardest trade to value is the Panthers move up for Bryce Young since it is the only trade that involved a player- WR DJ Moore. Moore was a younger $20M per year receiver and was considered a star. At the same time the Panthers likely had buyers remorse there given how poorly their season turned out and probably looked at this as a salary dump while the Bears looked at this as... Given some past trades I guess we should value Moore as a 2nd or 3rd round pick. That would put us in the range of a 3,300 point return.

Related Topics: Matt Miller, Darren Mougey, New York Jets, Tyrod Taylor, Quarterback, Justin Fields, Sauce Gardner The New York Jets hold more draft ammunition than any team in football, but one new projection suggests they might need nearly all of it to land their quarterback of the future in the... In a recent ESPN mock draft, Matt Miller mapped out an aggressive scenario in which the Jets would package both of their 2026 first-round picks — including the one acquired in the Sauce Gardner... 1 and select Indiana star Fernando Mendoza. That's a hefty price to pay, seeing as the projection has the Jets moving up just three spots. The New York Jets made headlines this past week with the announcement that veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers would not return to the team in 2025.

Rodgers will leave the organization after winning five games over two years. Consequently, this opened up a big question for the Jets organization: Who will be the team's starting quarterback going forward? They could go in a few different directions. They could trade for or sign a veteran QB, they could draft a rookie signal caller, or they could do both. No matter what they do, they need to address it quickly over the next couple months. Newly-hired general manager Darren Mougey has a lot to consider.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. presented an outside-the-box option for the Jets, speaking about the possibility of the team trading up to take a QB early in April's NFL Draft. His scenario has the Jets moving up from their seventh overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars' fifth overall pick to select Shadeur Sanders out of Colorado. The trade would leapfrog the QB-needy Las Vegas Raiders who own the sixth spot.

Espn Projects Jets Paying An Outrageous Price To Move Up To Draft Thei

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