On Monday, April 5th, the New York Jets traded away QB Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers.

According to ESPN, the Jets will receive a 2021 sixth-round pick and second-and fourth-round picks in 2022. The former third overall pick gets a fresh start with the Panthers and will look to improve his play. In his three years with the Jets, Darnold threw for 45 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. However, many NFL analysts contribute Darnold’s lack of success to the coaching and lack of talent on the Jets roster. Darnold is only 23 years old and still has a ton of potential, as a matter of fact, the Jets contemplated keeping Darnold and seeing how he performs under their new coaching staff. 

“I want to publicly acknowledge the commitment, dedication and professionalism Sam displayed while with the Jets, he is a tough-minded, talented football player whose NFL story has not been written yet. While all these things are true, this move is in the short- and long-term best interests for both this team and him. We thank Sam for all of his work on behalf of this organization and wish him well as he continues his career,” said Jets GM Joe Douglas.

The Jets are expected to replace Darnold by selecting quarterback Zach Wilson with the second overall pick in this year’s draft. Wilson took college football by storm this year, throwing for 3,692 yards and 33 touchdowns. If the Jets end up selecting Wilson, they will become the first team in the common draft era to select two quarterbacks within the top three overall picks in a four-year span.

This trade puts the Panthers in a very comfortable position, because they have plenty of options to choose from. Before this trade, the Panthers biggest need was a quarterback, but now that they have Darnold, they do not have to trade up to select one of the top quarterbacks. They can now stay at the 8th pick and draft weapons to surround Darnold with. 

“This does not take us out of anything in the draft, it does not take us out of taking a quarterback, it does not take us out of taking any positions. What we wanted to do going into this draft, through free agency, through this trade with Sam, was to just get rid of all the needs we have. We wanted to get to a place where the roster was in a good spot, and we could take the best player available at No.8. We could always move up, and we could always move back, but this puts us in a position to make the right football decision for this team moving forwards,” said Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer.

With the NFL draft coming up, it will be interesting to see what both of these teams do to improve their roster.