The New York Jets are entering the 2022 NFL Draft with a lot of maneuverability. Joe Douglas has done a wonderful job the last few seasons of building the roster backup and adding a ton of draft capital in the process. Of late, rumors have been swirling that the Jets could trade for San Francisco 49ers’ star wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
It has enabled the Jets to be in a position to make strides on the field already and provides flexibility to make even more moves to bring in established talent. Right now, the Jets have two glaring needs heading into the draft and will be looking to fill them with their first-round draft picks at No. 4 and 10.
New York could use more upgrades in their secondary at the cornerback spot. On offense, a clear-cut No. 1 option at wide receiver would be ideal. The Jets are in a good position to address both needs tonight during the first round.
But, one of the needs could be filled by an established veteran. Since Deebo Samuel asked for a trade from the San Francisco 49ers, the Jets have been the favorite to land him. San Francisco doesn’t want to move on from him, as he is coming off of an All-Pro season.
While things quieted down in recent days, Rich Cimini is reporting that a deal could still be made. The No. 10 pick in the draft sounds like it would be the centerpiece of a deal that could go down to the wire depending on how the draft board shakes out in the first nine picks.
The Jets are likely hoping that other teams move up and select quarterbacks, which will knock other players down the board. It is fair to assume that the 49ers would use the 10th overall pick on a wide receiver should they make a deal with the Jets, so the fewer that are selected in the top-9, the more likely the 49ers may be to work out a deal.
Drake London out of USC, Garrett Wilson out of Ohio State and Jameson Williams out of Alabama are three of the players who have been mocked the most in or around the top-10. Ideally, San Francisco would like to have their pick of the bunch, which could be part of the hold-up in making a deal with the Jets as no one knows how this board will shape up.
Acquiring Samuel would enable the Jets to use the No. 4 pick on a cornerback, such as Sauce Gardner out of Cincinnati or Derek Stingley Jr. out of LSU. Coming away with one of those two players and Samuel from the first round would make Gang Green one of the biggest winners of the 2022 NFL Draft regardless of how everything else goes.
