The New York Jets and Green Bay Packers debated for over a month before agreeing on compensation for the Aaron Rodgers trade to go through before the 2023 NFL Draft. Now the Jets’ head coach, Robert Saleh, is spinning one aspect of the trade that doesn’t seem to add up.
The Jets sent the Packers a 2023 second-round pick, a conditional 2024 second-round pick, a 2023 sixth-round pick for Rodgers, and a 2023 fifth-round pick. One key aspect of the trade was the first-round swap this year. The Packers jumped up two spots to the 13th overall pick, and the Jets fell back to 15. Saleh seems to think that the first-round swap didn’t mean much.
The New York Jets reached after trading Aaron Rodgers
Salah was on the Rich Eisen Show recently. Salah claimed the swap didn’t mean much to the Jets’ plans:
“The difference between #13 and #15, in the way everything shook out, made no difference to us”
That doesn’t seem to make much sense. The Packers were able to draft pass rusher Lukas Van Ness at 13. The Jets drafted Will McDonald IV, also a pass rusher but a player considered one of the biggest reaches in the first round. The Jets also had to sit and watch as the Pittsburgh Steelers traded with their divisional rival, the New England Patriots, to swoop up offensive tackle Broderick Jones with the 14th pick. Jones would have fit a crucial need for the Jets on the offensive line.
Saleh has to defend the McDonald pick after the draft. But it doesn’t seem honest at all that the Jets would have taken in him with the 13th pick. Of course, we’ll never know for sure, but the Jets seemed to take the best player on their board at a position of need. And two of their needs with much higher consensus draft grades were taken at 13 and 14. And that was another win for the Packers.
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2 Comments
You clearly are speculating with no inside knowledge of the Jets’ grading of players or analysis of their team needs. The player you think they missed was widely considered to be a developmental tackle. Considering that they have evidently considered that they now have two more polished tackles who are healthy and ready to play at a high level (Brown and Becton), why would they draft a player at 13 who would sit on the bench for a year? And, regardless of the consensus of draft observers, there’s no way you can assert that Jones and McDonald did not have the same grade on their board. So be careful whom you accuse of lying.
What a horrible article.
There is no evidence that Saleh was lying.
The issue with the pick was this was a very weak draft with only about 10 players with 1st round grades then 30 or so 2nd rounders with pretty even grades. The Jets took a player that fits their system prefectly in the wide 9 and a player that many grade as the best pure pass rusher in the draft but who is also suspect against the run.
Post draft reports have indicated the Jets were targeting Gibbs with the 15th pick to play a Deebo role. When he went at 12 the next player on their board was McDonald. It appeared they wanted to trade down but because the draft was so weak there was no value in trading down so they took the best player on their board.