After months of waiting, we are just days away from the 2026 NFL Draft. For the New York Jets, this has the potential to be a foundational moment.

Although you can argue it was not the original plan, much of the Jets’ positioning over the last several months has been intentional. This front office has clearly committed to a full-scale rebuild, with the plan centered around these next two drafts. This is the first swing. And make no mistake: the Jets are armed. They have more draft capital than anyone. Not just this year, but next year as well.

Thursday has the potential to be remembered as the true beginning of a new era. Not just a reset, but a sustainable one. Something this fanbase has been chasing for over a decade.

So with that in mind, here are some final thoughts on what the Jets absolutely cannot lose sight of.

Let me start with this….trading up is not always bad.

There are real, valid reasons to do it. If you’re going after a franchise quarterback, that’s one. If you’re a contender trying to grab a final-piece, blue-chip player, that’s another.

But here’s the reality: more often than not, the team trading down wins the deal. Statistical studies show this, and NFL teams are catching up. Over the last 2-3 years for example, we have seen fewer and fewer draft-night trades.

In the Jets’ case, let’s face it: this is not a team that’s one player away. This is not a team that should be operating with urgency to “go get their guy.” This is a roster that has been stripped down and reshaped over the last 15 months. It’s still very much in the early-to-middle stages of a full rebuild.

The goal over these next two drafts and offseasons is simple:

Build an entirely new core… and continue to prioritize depth.

The best way to do that is by trading down, not up. I get the argument that the Jets have so much draft capital that they can afford to move up for a premium talent. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. I get how enticing trading up for a player who I personally love like Carnell Tate may be, but the risk is just too high.

If the mission is to replenish talent across the board, then volume matters a ton. I’d much rather walk out of a draft with 10 swings than 7. This team needs hits everywhere, not just at the top.

This goes hand in hand with the previous point. The good thing here is you don’t even have to take my word for it, you have already seen what happens first hand when you don’t follow that approach.

The Joe Douglas / Robert Saleh era had a clear draft philosophy… and it was flawed.

They consistently identified a small group of players they had to get — and then made sure they got them, “no matter what”.

from Coach Saleh and Joe Douglas' texts this morning pic.twitter.com/T45org574t

And it wasn’t just Malachi Corley. The list of players Douglas and Saleh aggressively targeted and traded up for runs deeper than that. A few of the notable Day 1 and Day 2 trade-ups include:

Did the Jets really get great value across those moves?

Jermaine Johnson flashed, but realistically gave you about a season and a half of high-level play throughout his rookie deal. Alijah Vera-Tucker was good when healthy, but injuries cost him roughly half of his rookie contract. Breece Hall is the only one still on the roster, and even his long-term future isn’t exactly locked in.

Fast forward four years, and you’re looking at a group where the majority are on different teams, and most of the return on investment just didn’t line up with what was spent to acquire them. And more importantly, this approach hurt the roster as a whole.