The New York Jets’ draft stash could get a lot more interesting if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep leaning on an untested quarterback situation.
At the moment, the Jets would hold three top-10 picks in the 2027 NFL Draft if the 2026 season ended after Week 3, thanks to the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts. But Tampa Bay’s quarterback mess could complicate that path.
Baker Mayfield left the Buccaneers’ Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a dislocated thumb, and there’s a real chance he misses a handful of games. Tampa Bay didn’t bring in a veteran backup this offseason, so undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels would be next in line if Mayfield is sidelined.
That matters because the Bucs’ next two opponents are the Packers and Cowboys.
For the Jets, that’s the issue. New York owns Indianapolis’ first-rounder because of the Sauce Gardner swap.
And through the Quinnen Williams deal, one of the Jets’ other first-round picks is still up in the air. The team has the first-round pick of whichever finishes with the worse record between Green Bay and Dallas.
If the Cowboys finish with a better record than the Packers, they keep their own selection.
None of those three teams looks especially clean right now, either. Dallas basically handed one away with a brutal collapse against the Baltimore Ravens.
Green Bay was one bad Jets fourth quarter away from sitting at 0-3. Indianapolis opened 0-2 before squeezing out a narrow win over the Houston Texans.
The worry for Jets fans is that Tampa Bay may be about to make things easier for two teams New York wants to keep sinking. Instead of a sturdy push from the recently extended Mayfield and a Buccaneers team that has stayed competitive in all of its losses, the Packers and Cowboys might get a softer landing against Daniels, a quarterback every team in the league passed over multiple times after he regressed in his final season at Kansas.
Daniels did look good against the Jets in the preseason, but regular-season speed is a different animal.
That’s where the frustration comes in for New York. The Jets are still hunting for their next franchise quarterback, and even if the upcoming class leaves them a little underwhelmed, those picks could still help right away. They could use them to find David Bailey a long-term running mate, upgrade the cornerback room, or add another interior offensive lineman.
So while Tampa Bay is trying to survive its own quarterback situation, the ripple effect could reach all the way to New York. Jordan Love and Dak Prescott are good enough to turn those matchups into wins, and the Buccaneers’ failure to secure a veteran backup may end up costing the Jets a little bit of draft shine.
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