Keyshawn Johnson says Jets should trade No. 1 pick to Patriots

ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson says the Jets should trade the No. 1 overall pick to the Patriots.

At this point in the season, the race for the worst record in the NFL (and the top pick in the 2021 Draft) is the New York Jets’ to lose. We don’t enjoy speaking ill of teams being held back by inept head coaches, but it simply isn’t hyperbolic to say that the 0-8 AFC East side could go down as one of the worst teams in league history.

After getting laughed off the field by Kansas City in Week 8, the Jets have now been outscored by an impossible 144 points at the halfway mark, putting them on pace to notch an NFL record in point differential (-288) for a single season. In the best case scenario, New York would manage to pull out one victory, but most analysts are expecting them to finish the season 0-16, which would have them in pole position to draft Clemson superstar Trevor Lawrence next April.

That, of course, would come with (at some point) trading Sam Darnold, and resetting the salary cap at the quarterback position, which is clearly the most effective way for GM Joe Douglas to expedite his rebuild.

However, ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson is not of that mindset. On the Wednesday edition of his morning radio show with co-hosts Jay Williams and Zubin Mehenti, the former Pro Bowl wide receiver boldly asserted that the Jets should trade the No. 1 overall pick to the Patriots.

"“Sam Darnold’s not going anywhere,” said Johnson. “What they’re going to do with that No. 1 overall pick is they’re going to move it for somebody else, and if somebody else wants him like the New England Patriots for instance, take him. Give us your next 10 drafts No. 1 picks. If you believe that he’s the next guy, then take him.”"

Perhaps Johnson, like most of the country, got little-to-no sleep last night keeping up with the election coverage, because this take is as boneheaded as we’ve seen regarding the Jets’ rebuild project.

While we can picture a scenario where New York ponders unloading the top selection for a shipment of draft capital, not in a million years would they trade the rights to draft Lawrence, who most experts call the best quarterback prospect in a generation, to the Patriots, a division rival that finally looks vulnerable for the first time in two decades after Tom Brady’s departure.

Darnold will be due for a new contract after 2021 and the Jets have maybe three players — sophomore defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton, and first-year wideout Denzel Mims — to build around and are nowhere close to competing, so we seriously doubt that they trade the top pick.

One could argue that only having three players to build around should further motivate the Jets front office to accumulate as much draft capital as possible, but it would be a form of football malpractice to pass on the opportunity to draft a player like Lawrence.

Even in the slight chance that Douglas is crazy enough to do so, however, the Patriots are the absolute last team he would send the pick to. We commend Johnson’s incentive to get creative, but he’s lost the plot if he thinks his proposed plan has any chance at coming to fruition.

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