Sam Darnold

If teams call the Jets about Sam Darnold, Joe Douglas will answer the phone. On Wednesday, the Jets GM said that he’s willing to listen on trade inquiries for the quarterback. 

“I will answer the call, if it’s made,” Douglas said (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY). “Sam is, we think, a dynamic playmaker in this league with dynamic talent … But if calls are made, I will answer them.”

Before the NFL’s 2019 trade deadline, Douglas said that Darnold was untouchable. Now, he’s singing a different tune. The Jets have reportedly received real interest in the former USC standout, though Douglas seems to be indicating that the inquiries have yet to come in.

The Jets, armed with ~$90MM this offseason, have plenty of options. A Darnold trade could allow them to use the No. 2 overall pick on their next quarterback of the future. On the flipside, they could keep Darnold — if the offers aren’t to their liking — and take the best player available at No. 2, or trade down from there to fill multiple needs. No matter what, Douglas says he isn’t in any rush.

“We feel like [there’s no] hard timeline in the immediate future to make a decision,” Douglas said.

That jibes with what we’ve heard so far — the Jets plan to go through much of the draft process, including Pro Days and interviews, before making their Darnold decision. Of course, the right package from another team could alter those plans.

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There’s a lot of uncertainty at quarterback for the Jets. Maybe the team will take a quarterback like BYU’s Zach Wilson with the second-overall pick. Maybe they’ll pull off a blockbuster trade for Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson. Or maybe they’ll stick with their incumbent, former third-overall pick Sam Darnold.

As Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv writes, the Jets’ unpredictable quarterback situation could influence their ability to attract free agent wideouts to New York. Besides the obvious financial details of an offer, an agent told the reporter that receivers will be most focused on who’s under center as they evaluate signing with the Jets.

“It’s the first question they’re all going to ask, after they know the money,” the agent said. “Money is always going to matter most to some guys. But if it’s close, the Jets are going to have some tough questions to answer.”

“Players don’t like uncertainty,” said a different NFL agent. “I would think those [top receivers] will want to know who their quarterback is going to be, not just for this year, but for the length of their new deal.”

The Jets may not be able to provide that type of clarity to free agents. As Vacchiano notes, GM Joe Douglas is currently evaluating the top quarterback prospects and weighing their ability against Darnold’s ability. Unfortunately, Wilson’s Pro Day isn’t until March 26, while Ohio State’s Justin Fields will be holding his Pro Day on March 30. Free agency starts on March 17, and at that point, the Jets could still be weeks away from making their own internal decision about the position.

Thanks to the poor timing, there’s a chance some of the top free agent wideouts skip New York’s hypothetical offer and join a team with a bona fide starting quarterback. There will be more than half a dozen teams that could look to add free agent wideouts, and if top names like Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson, or Kenny Golladay get slapped with the franchise tag, that means there will be an even higher demand for second-tier receivers (like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Will Fuller, and Corey Davis).

On the flip side, the Jets have more financial flexibility than most teams, as they’ll be armed with $90MM heading into the start of free agency. Even if the team has yet to decide on their direction at quarterback by March 17, they could still entice a free agent with a massive overpay.

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The Jets are planning to complete their evaluations of the top quarterbacks in the draft before making any decisions on Sam Darnold, according to sources who spoke with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link). That process includes Pro Days and interviews, which means that Darnold won’t be shipped out anytime soon. 

Rapoport hears that the Jets have received real interest in Darnold, so there is a market for the former USC standout. From here, the Jets have lots of options. They could trade Darnold and draft their next QB at No. 2 overall. Or, they could keep him and take the best player available at No. 2, regardless of position. The Jets could also stick with Darnold and trade down from No. 2 with a team targeting a signal caller.

In the Carson Wentz deal, the Eagles scored a second-rounder that can turn into a first-rounder, plus a third-round pick. It’s been said that Darnold could be had for little more than a Round 2 choice, though there’s reason to believe that the Jets could top the Eagles’ haul. After all, Darnold is younger, and still has time remaining on his lower-cost rookie deal.

Darnold hasn’t impressed as a pro, but he also hasn’t been the best of opportunities. The former No. 3 overall choice completed just 59.6% of his throws for 2,208 yards and nine touchdowns against eleven interceptions last year.

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Whether via trade or via the draft, there’s a chance the Jets could bring in a new quarterback this offseason … meaning Sam Darnold would naturally find himself on the trade block. Sources tell Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv that the return for Darnold has “long been projected to be a second-round pick, plus maybe another mid-to-late rounder.”

New head coach Robert Saleh and new offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur believe Darnold may have “untapped potential,” but that apparently hasn’t stopped teams from inquiring about the quarterback’s availability. After all, this would seemingly be a prime opportunity for the team to restart at the position.

For starters, the team could easily select BYU quarterback Zach Wilson with the second-overall pick. Alternatively, the organization could make a run at Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has continually been connected to the organization. To top it all off, the Jets are only months away from having to make a decision on Darnold’s fifth-year option; that move would pay the quarterback around $25MM in 2022, and the two sides would still have to figure out a long-term pact.

Darnold hasn’t necessarily been put in a position to succeed since being selected with the third-overall pick in the 2018 Draft. However, after taking a clear step forward in 2019, the 23-year-old may have taken two steps back in 2020. Darnold finished the campaign having connected on only 59.6-percent of his passes for 2,208 yards, nine touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The Jets went 2-10 in his 12 starts.

As Vacchiano writes, the recent Carson Wentz trade (which saw the quarterback traded for a third-round pick and a conditional second-round pick) shouldn’t have any impact on Darnold’s value. This isn’t much of a surprise; besides the shared position, the two players don’t share similar situations. Wentz was significantly more expensive than Darnold, and he’s also dealt with a long list of injuries. Darnold is significantly cheaper in 2021, although he hasn’t come close to matching Wentz’s on-field production.

“There are so many unknowns with Darnold,” a source told Vacchiano. “He’s got a ton of potential, but he’s also had three years to show it. You’re taking a chance that he’ll be better away from the Jets, that he’s not damaged goods. He probably will be good in a better situation.

“But then you’ve only got a year to figure him out before you have to pay him, too.”

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Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has been rumored as a trade candidate for some time now, and it sounds like the lines of communication between Gang Green and the rest of the league are officially open. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, multiple teams have reached out to the Jets to discuss a trade for Darnold, who could be one of a number of high-profile passers to be dealt this offseason.

Schefter goes on to say that the Jets have entertained the discussions, though they are still undecided on how they want to resolve their quarterback dilemma. Recent reports have indicated that the club, which is armed with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, will either trade that pick or will trade Darnold. So if the Jets do end up moving Darnold, that would seem to indicate that they are high enough on a collegiate passer like Justin Fields or Zach Wilson to use the second pick in the draft on one of them.

Alternatively, a Darnold trade could also mean that the Jets feel good about their chances of landing a veteran replacement. But while the team has been connected to Deshaun Watson, that situation is still rife with uncertainty. New York has the draft capital and the cap space to pull off a Watson trade, but it’s no sure thing that the Texans will actually deal their star signal-caller.

Schefter confirms that all options are on the table for GM Joe Douglas, whose decision will have wide-reaching ramifications on the Jets’ fortunes and on Douglas’ own career. It’s unclear which teams have contacted Douglas to talk about Darnold, but it stands to reason that at least some of the clubs that were in on the Matthew Stafford sweepstakes — Washington, the Colts, and the Panthers, to name a few — might also be interested in Darnold.

Right now, it looks like the Eagles will trade Carson Wentz in the near future. After that, Darnold could be the next QB domino to fall, though the return for him is unlikely to include a first-round pick like the Stafford trade and the expected Wentz swap.

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