Jermaine Johnson trade continues alarming trend of recent Jets first-round picks

As a team with a 59-122 record since 2015, the New York Jets are routinely selecting at or near the top of the NFL draft.

With that fact in mind, you would think that means the Jets have landed several franchise cornerstones in multiple areas of the roster, thanks to exceptionally high draft picks, right?

Wrong. As it turns out, if the Jets pick a player in the first round, there's an incredibly high chance that they'll eventually ship you out of New York, in an alarming statistic that was reinforced by Thursday morning's Jermaine Johnson trade.

Jets have traded eight of their last 11 first round picks from 2015 to 2022

In a trend that continues to grow worse by the year, the Jets made 11 first-round selections between the 2015 NFL Draft and the 2022 NFL Draft. Eight of those eleven players have been traded, meaning those players had a 73% to get traded once New York turned their card in on draft night.

The only three that weren't traded are wide receiver Garrett Wilson, and offensive linemen Mekhi Becton and Alijah Vera-Tucker. Becton departed in free agency, and Vera-Tucker is an impending free agent after playing out his fifth-year option.

It's an embarrassing statistic and reflects poorly on former general managers Mike Maccagnan and Joe Douglas.

Glass-half-full, the return the Jets have gotten on some of these trades has been outstanding. Between 2015 first-round pick Leonard Williams, 2017's Jamal Adams, 2018's Sam Darnold, 2019's Quinnen Williams, and 2022's Sauce Gardner trades, New York netted five first-round picks, two second-round picks, and two third-round picks in terms of premier draft capital.

For the others, let's just say it's been a negative return on investment. For 2016's Darron Lee and 2021's Zach Wilson, New York got back just two sixth-round picks, obviously a horrific turnout for two players selected with the No. 20 and No. 2 overall pick, respectively.

Since 2022, the Jets' more recent first-round picks have been on the right track. General manager Darren Mougey told reporters at the NFL Combine that the team feels good about 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald IV and is likely to pick up his fifth-year option, according to The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt.

2024 and 2025 first-round picks Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou figure to bookend the Jets' offensive line for the next decade. Hopefully, those three players land second contracts with the likes of Garrett Wilson and play them out without being traded.