New York Jets GM Mike Maccagnan has had an interesting tenure in his time in New York. In some ways, you can say he’s drafted well by nabbing players like Leonard Williams Darron Lee and Jamal Adams. You can also say that he hasn’t had much success drafting and that he’s lucked out by having top talent fall to him, with very little success in later rounds. You can say he’s been aggressive in free agency after acquiring the likes of Darrelle Revis and locking up Mohammed Wilkerson. You can also say he’s been foolish with money having no salary cap space last season and foolishly overpaying Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Maccagnan has a reputation for exploring all options, entertaining phone calls for anyone. Today he closed the deal on what has seemed like it should have happened a long time ago. The New York Jets have acquired wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and 2018 2nd pick and 7th round pick in return for Sheldon Richardson and a 7th round pick. For the Seahawks, this is a solid trade. You don’t give up much, you acquire a top tier defensive lineman to assist in getting to the quarterback. The window for Seattle may be closing on a chance for another Super Bowl ring, and they didn’t have to quite mortgage their future only surrendering a 2nd round pick and a mid-tier wide out.
For the Jets, I think this is a slam dunk. They’ve acquired ammunition in what is regarded a strong draft class. And I like that they got Jermaine Kearse. Entering his 6th season, he’s some veteran leadership for a young corps. He’s been average so far in his time in the NFL. About 50 yards per season and a few touchdowns. However, he now has a chance to be a main target for a talentless Jets team. In addition, he returns to his home state of New Jersey. While this isn’t a trade that will make the Jets a winning team, I think it should help mold the minds of Robbie Andersen and company. Unfortunately, the only real loser of this trade is Jermaine Kearse who will now likely only see a maximum of 2 wins this season.
I think it was important for the Jets to ship out Richardson. Not only did he seem to not fit into Coach Bowles’ defense playing outside linebacker for most of last season but he was a locker room cancer and a major distraction. While immensely talented, his time and New York had to come to close. As for this trade… we will have to wait and see really until the draft who the real winner is of this trade. If the Seahawks win a Super Bowl I would say they won the trade, but if they fall short of that goal and the Jets are able to acquire serious talent to help transform this franchise? Well then this might have been the move Maccagnan has been waiting for.