Report: Jets Looking to Trade for a Pass Rusher to Replace Carl Lawson

The Jets lost their top pass rusher, Carl Lawson to a season ending injury a few days ago. This was a devastating loss for the team. I personally felt like Lawson would be the defensive player most difficult to replace. There just doesn’t seem to be anybody good enough on the roster to fill the role.

Apparently the Jets might agree. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the team is interested in trading for a pass rusher to replace Lawson.

It is difficult to analyze what this means without knowing the specific players the team might be targeting or what the compensation would be.

The Jets do have a surplus of Draft capital in 2022 with a pair of picks in both the first and second rounds. This could conceivably allow the team to deal one of those picks for a high end trade target and still have enough picks to continue building a young core. The Jets also have two fifth round picks and three sixth round picks if they were to target a less pricey rusher.

It has felt like the Jets spent the last couple of years resetting. They weren’t necessarily trying to be bad, but the team seemed hesitant to give up future assets for short term gains. This was a wise approach because the team wasn’t good enough to make those sorts of moves.

A willingness to deal a pick to help the team now would indicate we have reached a new point in the franchise’s trajectory. The team is now looking to ascend.