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Big story on Sunday:
Headline – “Jets Interested in Acquiring No. 1 Overall Draft Pick.”
You saw headlines like that all over the internet.
It was based on something ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote:
“A lot of folks believe the Titans are interested in trading out of the top pick, and the Giants and Jets are among the teams believed to be interested in moving up,” Graziano.
Graziano is a very bright man and a skillful writer. In fact, he is not just a sportswriter but has also written two novels—The Ultimatum and I Think She’s Trying to Tell Me Something.
I’m making a point of his intellect and writing skills because if you really break down what he said, it was worded to protect himself.
Reading the sentence he wrote about a potential trade, you could make the argument that Graziano has no inside information on the Jets and Giants having an interest in trading up, but is speculating.
“Believed to be interested” gives the writer plausible deniability.
I don’t think Graziano knows any more than you or I about the Jets being supposedly interested in moving up, and that is not a shot at the writer. Once again, he did said “believed to be interested.”
But let’s play along with the premise for a second.
Here is the most important factor that needs to be considered if the Titans are interested in trading the first pick:
The Titans need a quarterback.
Will Levis is clearly not the answer. He’s more of a #2.
What is the theory behind the Jets and Giants moving? To get a QB.
The Titans are coached by Brian Callahan, who is considered one of the better QB quarterbacks in the NFL. Here is his recent resume before taking the Titans job in 2024.
- Detroit Lions (2016–2017)
Quarterbacks coach - Oakland Raiders (2018)
Quarterbacks coach - Cincinnati Bengals (2019–2023)
Offensive coordinator
In Cincinnati, he was attached at the hip with Joe Burrow for the QB’s first four NFL seasons, and his work with Burrow is one of the reasons the Titans hired him.
So if Callahan is looking at the tape and top QB draft prospects, Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, and is perhaps telling his GM, let’s try to trade back, what does that say about what he thinks of Sanders and Ward?
If Callahan, who knows a thing or two about quarterbacks, looked at the tape, and saw a franchise QB in Sanders or Ward, there is no freakin way the Titans are trading that pick, No way.
Now some would argue that Penn State edge-rusher Abdul Carter is the best player in this draft, so a team might want to trade up for him.
Perhaps, but the Jets have two first-round picks on their rookie contracts at the end positions – Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald – and the Giants have first-round prospects Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, who they traded for and gave a monster contract.
So neither team would be trading up for an edge-rusher.
And we don’t even know if either team are truly interested in trading up for the first pick. Graziano was speculating and aggregators, all over internet jumped on it, like it was the gospel. This happens every day – reporters speculate and myriad aggregators do stories on their speculation. Just “Google” the Jets, and you will see what I’m talking about.
But something to keep in mind about a trade up – the Jets have no third-round pick this year because they traded it to the Las Vegas Raiders for wide receiver Davante Adams, so there is less ammo to move up, even if they wanted to.
March 3, 2025
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