Leading up to and during draft weekend, no team was pegged as a more likely mover-and-shaker than the New York Jets.
With the third overall pick and no second-round selections thanks to their trade up for Sam Darnold in 2018, Gang Green was thought to be a prime candidate to either trade down from the top five or trade up from their third round pick.
Instead, the Jets stayed pat on Thursday night, selecting arguably the draft's top prospect in Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, and then failed to move into the second round on Friday evening. New York selected Florida edge rusher Jachai Polite with their original third-rounder and then traded up to grab USC tackle Chuma Edoga.
Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan explained to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on the "RapSheet and Friends" podcast this week why New York opted not to fly around the draft.
"It was never a situation where we were trying to get out of the third pick," Maccagnan told Rapoport. "We actually felt very comfortable being there. We said very publicly we were going to get a very good player at 3. But we went through our process in talking to teams.
"I think when we were sitting there with our situation, I think we looked at the possibility of trading back or trading out of the spot. But when we were on the clock and talking to teams, there was never really a trade offer that we felt was strong enough to make us move basically when it was all said and done. That being said, we were very happy to take what we felt was one of the top players in the draft at that spot (Quinnen Williams) and went forward with it."
There was a thought-slash-rumor out there on Thursday afternoon that the Jets could strike a deal with the division Buffalo Bills to move down to No. 9. Buffalo was eyeing Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver and the Jets and Raiders (No. 4) were rumored to want him. Maccagnan says he wouldn't have been opposed to trading with an AFC East foe.
"When you trade within the division, you want to make sure it's at least fair for both sides at minimum because you're going to be facing those players all the time," the Jets GM said. "I wouldn't necessarily rule out trading with someone in the division if it's a trade that works out for the beam both in the short and long term."
The Jets did not trade down, and Buffalo eventually got its man when Oliver fell to No. 9.
In recent days, another report has emerged that the Jets were interested to trading into the second round to grab Georgia speedster Mecole Hardman, who was grabbed by the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 56.
Maccagnan admitted that New York was interested in moving into the second round, but wouldn't say for which players and cited the difficulty in trading into a round with no picks.
"I think sometimes if you have a pick within the round, it's a lot easier to move up in the round," Maccagnan added. "But if you're trying to get back into the second round and you don't have a second-round pick per se in that year's draft, it makes it a little more difficult. There's a lot of situations where we had talked to teams and quite a few scenarios where teams opted to not want to make a trade and felt good about the players on the board and took the player respectively. But that's part of the draft process you go through.
"In the end we never found a team that was going to be in a position to facilitate a trade with us. We sort of stayed put, kept our picks, kept our future picks and we felt we got some good players in the third round."
Maccagnan sounded pleased with his third-round haul despite Polite's and Edoga's boom-or-bust potential. The GM wasn't bothered by Polite's reported poor pre-draft process, telling Rapoport that Ravens legend Terrell Suggs had a terrible 40 when he was coming out of Arizona State. On Edoga, Maccagnan liked the offensive lineman's arm length and foot quickness and his flexibility to play right tackle, left tackle or swing into guard.
When asked about the positions he hasn't addressed in New York's high-spending offseason, namely the center position, Maccagnan insisted the Jets aren't done making moves. It's a long way 'til September after all.
"Between now and when we play our first game, we have quite a bit of time left. There's still some players out there in free agency. There's still going to be potential trades. There can still be players that come available in preseason, whether it's during preseason in trades or in final cuts," Maccagnan said. "We like the players we have [at center] right now, but if we can make the position more competitive, we're definitely going to do that."
Amid unconfirmed rumblings that Maccagnan's job is in jeopardy, the Jets GM appears satisfied with what he and his team have built in their five seasons in New York. If the players they acquired and drafted this offseason don't pan out in 2019, however, Maccagnan could be looking for work elsewhere come January, ruing the trades he didn't make or the players he didn't take.
