Did New York Jets get a gift from New England Patriots?

How the New England Patriots trading Jimmy Garoppolo could have helped the New York Jets moving forward.

When the New England Patriots traded away Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night it sent shockwaves throughout the NFL. Most of these shockwaves were instant, but the biggest shockwave won’t fully take effect until the NFL off-season, and it may be big news for the New York Jets.

For many it was a foregone conclusion that Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins would become the face of the 49ers franchise and reunite with former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. Now with Shanahan and the 49ers investing their future in Garoppolo, Cousins will now have to find a new home.

It won’t be in Washington. After two franchise tags reports are that Cousins wants of D.C. That’s good news for Jets fans because the Jets should be one of the front-runners for the quarterback’s services. Will there be other suitors? Of course, but New York has the cap space to pull it off and offers Cousins the chance to be the marquee guy in New York.

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Let’s not forget that the odds for the Jets to get a top five pick in the upcoming draft are incredibly low and just to move up a few spots could cost the franchise multiple first round picks. Even though it is the best quarterback draft class in decades, the Jets will likely miss out on getting one of the top prospects.

This is where Cousins comes in. My guess based on the market value of Matt Stafford’s deal earlier this year that Cousins contract will be in the neighborhood of $130-$140 million for five years. This isn’t cheap, but it gives New York a competent franchise quarterback and buys them time to draft and groom an eventual successor. Let’s not forget that the Jets have cleared plenty of the cap space for next off-season and could save even more if the decide to cut defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson.

Cousins may be 22-25-1 as a starter, but he has completed over 66% of his throws throwing for 85 touchdowns and 46 interceptions. Without question he is a competent quarterback and would be an upgrade at the position over Josh McCown.

Would the Jets love to get Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, or one of the other top quarterbacks in the class? Of course, but they probably won’t be able to get into the top five to draft one. Let’s not forget that the rush to get a quarterback could lead to the best prospect in the draft falling to the Jets.

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It’s safe to guess that the Jets will finish between picks six and ten for the 2018 draft. With the rush to grab a quarterback top prospect Saquon Barkley could fall into the Jets laps and give New York the draft’s top offensive player. Just think about that offense for a second. Cousins under center and Barkley in the backfield would make the Jets playoff contenders.

Of course this is wishful thinking at this point. However, Cousins will need a landing spot in 2018 and thanks to New England the Jets now have a better chance of getting a franchise quarterback in the Big Apple.

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