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General manager Darren Mougey of the New York Jets speaks to the media during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center.
The New York Jets are in one of the most unique positions in the NFL right now, armed with five first-round picks over the next two years.
With a glaringly obvious need at quarterback, it’s safe to assume at least one of those selections will be a quarterback.
But as for 2026, have the Jets won too many games to be in a prime position to select a signal-caller of their choosing?
It’s possible. As of December 9, New York sits at No. 7 overall according to Tankathon, and the top quarterbacks, such as Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore, are predicted to go within the top three picks.
Armed with a boatload of draft capital, should the Jets mortgage their future to trade up in the draft for one of the aforementioned quarterbacks?
Connor Rogers Urges Jets Not to Get Aggressive in Trading Up
NFL analyst Connor Rogers doesn’t think so, and he said as much on his New York Jets-focused podcast Badlands.
“I almost see people becoming dangerously attached where it’s like, well, he’s the guy and he’s going to go first overall. So give the Titans or the Giants everything. And I’m just mind blown how many times I read that when we’ve watched 9 million quarterbacks here go into situations set up to fail,” Rogers told cohost Joe Caporoso.
“I don’t think the #Jets are good enough right now to trade their war chest of draft picks for any quarterback and think he can come in here and save everything.”
@ConnorJRogers gives his current views on the Fernando Mendoza discourse.
“And I don’t think the Jets are good enough right now to trade their war chest of picks for any quarterback. And they can come in here and save everything. I think that’s a totally dangerous concept.”
To Rogers’ point, the Jets roster is far from contention; there are just too many holes for fans to expect a full pivot to a playoff team in 2026.
The defense, for example, is one of the worst in the league. They currently rank 28th according to Sumer Sports’ EPA/play.
Trading three first-round picks to select Mendoza just to have him throw the ball 40 times a game isn’t exactly a recipe for success or positive development.
New York needs to ensure they can build around a rookie quarterback, and they’ll need those draft picks to do so.
Should the Jets Wait to Draft a Quarterback Until 2027?
All this to say, the New York Jets aren’t exempt from drafting a quarterback in 2026.
If the cost makes sense, a trade-up would be palatable, as Rogers further explained.
“Now at the right cost, could making a move for Mendoza make sense? Of course it can. Can you tow the line of, we got these extra picks because we want to be flexible. Now we can go get them, but we also have enough capital to get our second receiver and we’ll need our defense to be competent, right?” Rogers continued.
“Because that people are like, well, who cares about the defense? I just, it’s so mind blowing when you watch – who cares about the defense? – watch Indiana play right now, they play a brand of football defensively and offensively that elevates the team, including the quarterback right now.”
The Jets will have several options available to them in the 2026 NFL Draft to land a quarterback of the future.
If they want to sit and wait for one to come to them, that would be great but risky.
Or, they could take a page out of the New York Giants playbook and trade up late in the first round to grab their guy, a la Jaxson Dart.
As long as they’re not selling the farm to move up to the first overall pick, they’ll be putting themselves on the right track back to competency.
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