The New York Jets went on a bit of a fire sale during the NFL trade deadline. Sitting at 1-7 heading into the deadline, the front office decided to stockpile future assets. They traded away two of their best defensive players in Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, in exchange for two first-round picks and a young player in Mazi Smith.
After the trade, the Jets have 16 draft picks in the next two drafts. Does this remind you of a different team? Well, Ian Rapoport likened New York’s situation right now to the NBA’s reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC and their general manager, Sam Presti leveraged their many draft picks to create a title contender.
“The Jets now have three additional first-round picks and one additional second-round pick over the next two drafts following the trades — eight total picks in the first two rounds of the ’26 and ’27 drafts,” Rapoport wrote for NFL.com. “That should allow them (if they choose wisely) to rebuild this team in the image of Mougey and Glenn. It’s reminiscent of Sam Presti stockpiling 17 first-rounders from 2020 to 2026 for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, then using the capital to trade up, trade down and build. That is the hope for the Jets.”
Can the Jets orchestrate a turnaround with their stockpile of assets? They have a lot of avenues to accomplish this goal. One way they can use these draft picks is to use these picks to trade for a marquee player. Given the state of their roster, though, it might make more sense to spend these picks on young players in the draft. With their picks, they could orchestrate a trade-up to acquire a player they truly like in the draft.
For now, though, the Jets should use the rest of the 2025 season to evaluate the rest of their roster. Even after trading Williams and Gardner, the Jets have some intriguing young players who could be a potential cornerstone in the future. Players such as Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Jermaine Johnson are young Jets stars that could be the centerpiece of a future contender in the Big Apple.
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