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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The New York Jets should avoid the quarterback position with their premium picks in the 2026 NFL draft.
Or at least that is what NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah thinks. He spoke at length about the Jets’ unique draft haul this year and how they should fix the QB position on an annual conference call with the media ahead of the combine.
Instead, Jeremiah believes the Jets should explore the veteran quarterback trade market for answers.
“To me, I was looking at a couple of names, like I would kick the tires on, I don’t know if they’d be available, but for Frank Reich, there I was thinking about [Tanner] McKee with the Eagles. Like, what would that cost? I was thinking about Davis Mills [with the Houston Texans]. Those are a couple of guys that I’d be curious about taking a flier on for a year if you could trade a mid-round pick,” Jeremiah explained.
Insider Explains Why Jets Should Avoid QB in 2026 NFL Draft
“I’m not taking a quarterback at [pick No.] 2 or [pick No.] 16 in my opinion. If you want to take a flier at [pick No.] 33 or [pick No.] 44? I don’t even love that, to be honest,” Jeremiah said when asked about the possibility of solving the QB position in the draft.
“I don’t think I’d lean in the direction of the draft for their quarterback this year. I think they will be all in for that next year,” Jeremiah explained.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if [pick No.] 33, which is always a pick that has some value as teams go to sleep and come back and look at who is still on the board, [the Jets] could trade down and pick up another asset in next year’s draft. I think that would make some sense,” Jeremiah said.
Jeremiah argued that if you’re the Jets, you can plug a lot of roster holes outside of quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft.
“If you go into next year with a bunch of picks, if your offensive line is in good shape, if your defensive line is in good shape, and you can find your quarterback of the future at that point in time, I think that is the right way to go. Who knows, maybe you hit the lottery on one of these younger veterans that you can try and get. That makes more sense to me than trying to force it on a quarterback in the draft,” Jeremiah added.
The QB Trade Market Discussion
It seems incredibly unlikely that the Texans would make Mills available this offseason.
Mills, 27, signed a one-year $7 million contract extension in September of 2025. Considering C.J. Stroud’s struggles to finish the year, Houston would likely prefer to keep Mills as insurance.
McKee, on the other hand, would make a lot of sense. The former Stanford product is 25 years of age, and he will turn 26 before the start of the 2026 season.
He has one year left on his rookie contract through this upcoming season. McKee has a $1.19 million cap hit for 2026.
The Eagles could trade him this offseason and acquire an asset, rather than letting him play out his rookie deal and potentially lose him for nothing in 2027.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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