The Jets’ ugly Week 7 loss to the winless Miami Dolphins didn’t exactly leave much room for optimism. But a few days later, New York got a jolt from a move it didn’t make at all: Quenton Nelson going from the Indianapolis Colts to the Seattle Seahawks.
On the surface, it looked like another major NFL trade with no direct tie to the Jets. ESPN’s Field Yates, though, pointed out why New York should care a lot about it.
“A sneaky winner of the Quenton Nelson trade to Seattle? The Jets,” Yates shared.
“The Nelson trade could be the first of multiple trades the Colts make for their quality veteran players as they look towards the future. The Jets own Indy's 2027 first-round pick.”
That’s the key here. The Jets’ prize in all of this is tied to last year’s Sauce Gardner trade, which gave them control of Indianapolis’ 2027 first-rounder. If the Colts keep moving veteran pieces and keep drifting toward a teardown, that pick could become extremely valuable.
Nelson may only be the beginning. The source material points to DeForest Buckner, Jonathan Taylor, Keenan Allen, Josh Downs, and others as possible names that could be moved if Indianapolis decides to lean all the way into a sell-off. If that happens, the Colts could wind up pushing themselves toward one of the NFL’s worst records.
And that would put the Jets in a very strong spot.
For a team searching for its quarterback of the future, a depleted Colts roster could hand New York a premium draft position - or at least the kind of draft capital that makes moving up for a quarterback far more realistic.
That’s why this trade matters in New York, even though the Jets had no part in it. The Nelson deal is a sign that Indianapolis may be headed into full seller mode, and if that continues, the Jets could end up holding one of the most valuable cards in the 2027 draft. In the best-case scenario for New York, that could mean two picks inside the top five.
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