NY Jets received very little interest for the No. 2 pick, per report

The NY Jets had an important decision to make this offseason regarding Sam Darnold and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. But while that decision was rather important, it doesn’t seem as though it was a difficult one to make.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that the Jets received “very little interest for the No. 2 overall selection.” Something that might come as a surprise given the haul the Miami Dolphins received for the third overall pick.

Rapoport speculated that this lack of interest could have been due to the fact that everyone already believed the Jets would stick with their pick and weren’t looking to trade down.

It’s safe to say that’s a fair assumption.

The NY Jets likely never seriously explored trading down

The actions from other NFL teams this offseason hint at what the Jets’ plan was from the start. They always intended to get a closer look at the top quarterbacks in the draft by attending their pro days.

There were likely some within the organization that even wanted to keep Sam Darnold. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t seem as though they ever seriously considered trading down or keeping their former franchise quarterback.

Instead, they’ve had their eyes on one player. BYU quarterback Zach Wilson. And the recent trades made by both the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles seem to confirm that.

The 49ers never attempted to trade up to No. 2, instead opting to target a trade with the Miami Dolphins for the third overall pick. Why is that? Probably because they knew the Jets were targeting a quarterback.

As for the Eagles, their reported top option this offseason was Zach Wilson. General manager Howie Roseman was enamored with Wilson and wanted to trade up to grab him.

But once it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, they traded down to accumulate additional draft capital. Why was it clear that they weren’t going to be able to trade up to snag Wilson?

Probably because neither the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jets were interested in trading down. And because the Jets already knew who they were going to draft with the No. 2 overall pick.

Sure some of this is speculation, but it isn’t hard to put two and two together here. The rest of the NFL has known of the Jets’ intentions for quite some time now.

The Jets never seriously considered trading down. And given that teams barely even attempted to call the Jets about trading down, we could assume that the rest of the NFL knew this too.

Essentially, this confirms that the Jets were going to draft a quarterback. Regardless of what happened with Darnold, they planned to draft a quarterback.

And come April 29th, they’re going to get their wish.