New York Jets Owner Insisted on Keeping ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ Pick In Recent Trade

The issues for the New York Jets continue to arise, and things might be much worse behind the scenes.

It’s well-known that owner Woody Johnson has made many of the organization’s decisions. Given the franchise hasn’t found any success over the past decade, it’s fair to question whether Johnson knows what he’s doing. 

Many have suggested that if the Jets want to return to being a competent organization and at least reach the playoffs, Johnson shouldn’t make any of the football decisions. Whether that’s in the draft, trades, hirings, or anything else, they need a football operations person to make the tough decisions. 

The issues only continue to get worse with each story that comes out.

Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported a troubling story on Thursday, highlighting that Johnson wanted to trade the 256th pick in the NFL draft instead of the 257th overall pick in an attempt to find the next successful “Mr. Irrelevant.”

How did this happen? Well, it involved the Zach Wilson trade.

“When the Jets traded quarterback Zach Wilson to the Broncos last April, Denver asked Douglas to include the final pick of the draft (257th overall). According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Johnson instructed Douglas to instead trade the 256th pick — which the Jets also owned — so New York could select “Mr. Irrelevant,” the final pick of the draft who is annually celebrated upon his selection.”

That’s right, according to Russini, Johnson wanted a worse pick, even if it was one spot after. Russini’s source was somewhat incredulous.

“Can you believe that?” the source said. “He thought he needed the Mr. Irrelevant pick to get a Brock Purdy (the final pick of the 2022 draft who has emerged as a franchise quarterback in San Francisco). I don’t think that’s ever happened in the history of the NFL: A team wanted a worse pick.”

New York eventually drafted Jaylen Keys with the 257th pick. He didn’t make it past the final roster cuts for the regular season.

While the Jets might have drafted Keys anyway, having a lower pick, even if it’s just one spot, doesn’t make any logical sense. But again, all this shows is Johnson is a bit over his head and is trying to do things to improve the public perception of the franchise.

If he hasn’t realized it, it will take much more than hitting on a “Mr. Irrelevant” pick.

Needless to say, he needs to understand he isn’t making the right decisions and bring somebody in who can.