EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 22: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Sam Darnold #14 of the New York Jets in against the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium on December 22, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets defeated the Steelers 16-10. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
With extra draft picks and a naturally worse team now, could the New York Jets wind up with a new QB in the 2021 draft?
Jamal Adams wanted to be traded, and on Saturday the New York Jets granted his wish by sending him to the Seattle Seahawks. As part of the deal, they got first-round picks and in 2021 and 2022, and a third-round pick in 2021.
Jets’ head coach Adam Gase and quarterback Sam Darnold are each heading into make-or-break seasons in 2020. Gase needs to win more games, and Darnold needs to be healthy and productive in his third season. Those two things seem to naturally be related, and a bad season could lead to the reset button for the Jets.
In concert with Darnold’s health after battling mono, the Jets went 6-2 in the second half last year. But winning games always feels it’s being done in spite of Gase, and the lower range of outcomes (like 3-13) is always possible.
The 2021 draft looks to have some depth at the quarterback position. So could the Jets, has speculated by Benjamin Solak of The Draft Network, end up with….Trevor Lawrence?
If Darnold can’t stay healthy all season and/or he struggles, the Jets may just lose 10 games and line themselves up for a top-10 pick next April automatically. Anything outside the top-5 would take them out of the running for Lawrence or Justin Fields as things look now though. But that extra first-round pick from Seattle, even if it’s in the 20’s, gives them the capital to trade up if they wanted to.
It seems unlikely the Jets would give up on Darnold after three seasons, when he’ll still be shy of his 24th birthday. But general manager Joe Douglas did not draft him, and Gase’s seat is hot. Darnold could be a draw or a drawback for a possible new head coach, depending on what he does this season.
If the Jets did fire Gase and effectively start over, Darnold may naturally fall to the trade block. The possibilities are practically endless for the Jets looking toward the 2020 season and beyond. That includes being firmly in the market for a top quarterback prospect in the 2021 draft, by some sort of design or simple circumstance. Whether a move to get a new quarterback will makes sense can’t be determined right now, since it depends on Darnold.