The Jets and Laremy Tunsil: What Could Have Been
So it turns out that the New York Jets tried to move from the 20th spot in the NFL draft to the Giants’ 10th overall pick. The Jets offered their second rounder along with their first rounder to go up 10 spots to get tackle Laremy Tunsil. The best player/tackle had dropped from the 1st spot all the way to the 10th spot. In the end the trade with the Giants did not take place but the Jets should have done everything to get Tunsil.
| Source: www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/myers-jets-offered-trade-giants-draft-laremy-tunsil-article-1.2626930 | |
For me this means including their 4th round pick to the package. Or, call me crazy, add in another pick from this draft or next year’s. If the Giants refused this deal then the Jets should have continued to propose a trade with the Buccaneers at the No. 11 and the Saints at No. 12 picks. But by not doing so Tunsil got picked up by the Miami Dolphins with their No. 13th pick.
Giving up that additional pick in order to draft Tunsil had more value than if the Jets kept the 4th rounder (which Jets used to draft Juston Burris, a low-tier cornerback). I would rather have the best tackle on my team rather than a talentless player who may not even make the cut. Trading for Tunsil was a no brainer and no sacrifice would have been too great to improve the team.
General manager Mike Maccagnan dropped the ball on this one. If he was already in talks with the Giants because of his high interest in Tunsil, then a mere 4th round pick should not have been the deal breaker, holding him back. When push came to shove, Maccagnan seems to have acted out of timidness.
Even though there was a Twitter video that came out minutes before the draft, showing Tunsil with his smoking gas mask, that should not have impacted his drafting. Talent is talent and none of the players the Jets drafted seemed to be a major improvement compared to Tunsil. It looks like this blurred Maccagnan’s view on Tunsil and made him miss out on this great opportunity. We’ll have to see in a year or more if this new GM made the right call. I think not.
