Jets GM Joe Douglas on trading up or down from pick 10: ‘Those are the questions we’re asking ourselves’

One of the most fascinating teams to watch in next week’s NFL Draft will be the New York Jets. They had something of a lost season in 2023 with Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles just four snaps into their first game of the year. They’ve spent much of this offseason remaking their offensive line, and they also refortified their pass rush by trading for Haason Reddick after Bryce Huff walked in free agency.

But the Jets still have plenty of needs. Despite signing Tyron Smith and trading for Morgan Moses, the Jets can definitely still use help along the offensive front. And despite signing Mike Williams, they can absolutely stand to upgrade the weaponry at Rodgers’ disposal.

Picking at No. 10 overall, it’s easy to envision the Jets having one of those two options available to them, or even both. But if there’s a player they really like who makes it into the back half of the top 10, would they move up? If they come on the board and have so many options they like available to them, would they move down? 

General manager Joe Douglas addressed that question on Friday. 

“Those are the questions we’re asking ourselves,” Douglas said. “‘Who are those guys?’ ‘Would you trade up?’ ‘How comfortable are you moving up to get those players?’ So, those are all the discussions that we’re having right now. And we’re going to have more strategy meetings next week on, ‘Who are those players that we would consider coming up from 10 to go get? How many of them are there? How far are [we] willing to go?’ Obviously, we don’t have our full complement; we don’t have a second-round pick this year. So that limits you a little bit on just how far you can go up, but those are the conversations we’re having. 

“And then on the flip side, if we get to 10 and we have a strong group of players that we love, are you willing to move back? How far do you feel comfortable moving back? So, those are the conversations we’re having yesterday and all of next week.”

That’s a lot of words to essentially say, “We’re open to everything.” And that’s exactly the way a team like the Jets should be handling the draft. They want to be a contender, but they still have a bunch of needs, and they don’t currently have a single pick between Nos. 10 and 72. That will likely affect their ability to move up if they want to do so, but also their desire to move down if they’re presented with an offer that brings in a higher volume of selections. And with the depth this class has at tackle and wide receiver in particular, it’s possible New York can thread the needle and accomplish everything it wants early on.