'Hard Knocks' confirms biggest NY Jets trade rumor from 2024 NFL Draft

The NY Jets' desire to land a high-level offensive playmaker in the 2024 NFL Draft was one of the worst-kept secrets leading into and following the event this past spring.

It was widely reported in the days leading up to the draft that the Jets were exploring the possibility of trading up to land one of the top wide receivers in this year's class, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, or Rome Odunze.

In the end, the Jets weren't able to trade up, instead settling for Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu with the 11th overall pick in this year's draft. It wasn't due to a lack of trying, though.

In the latest episode of "Hard Knocks" featuring the New York Giants, Jets general manager Joe Douglas was shown calling Giants GM Joe Schoen in an attempt to move up to the No. 6 overall pick. It's unclear what the Jets offered, but they were aggressively trying to trade up.

Who were they targeting? That much remains unknown, but it's speculated that the team was looking to land either Nabers, who the Giants ended up selecting, or Odunze, who would go a few picks later to the Chicago Bears at No. 9 overall.

The NY Jets tried to trade up for a WR in the 2024 NFL Draft

This clip from "Hard Knocks" is hardly a revelation, seeing as numerous reports already suggested that the Jets tried to trade up. SNY's Connor Hughes confirmed after the draft that the Jets made an offer to the Giants before being rejected.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer confirmed that Odunze was a player the Jets likely would've taken ahead of Fashanu if he was still on the board. Evidently, they were comfortable moving up to land him as well.

History will be the ultimate decider, but the Jets and Giants are both quite happy with how the draft turned out at this point. Nabers has been lighting it up in training camp and Fashanu looks every bit like the future franchise left tackle the Jets hoped he would be.

Instead of drafting a wide receiver in the first round, the Jets were able to land Western Kentucky's Malachi Corley in the third round — a player Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh have been very vocal in their admiration of.

The Giants are happy with Nabers and the Jets are happy with Fashanu and Corley. But in some alternate reality, the Jets were able to complete their draft-day splash to land a superstar wide receiver prospect.

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