Everyone expects the Raiders to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. The No. 2 pick is where the draft gets interesting.
Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese is currently the favorite to go with the No. 2 pick, which is owned by the Jets. Reese’s odds to go second overall are -140.
The next-best odds are for Texas Tech outside linebacker David Bailey, at +160, followed by Miami defensive end Rueben Bain at +800, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at +1400 and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles at +1500.
An interesting long shot is Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson at +4000. Most draft analysts don’t view Simpson as the kind of talent worthy of the second overall pick, but the Jets desperately need a quarterback, and if they think Simpson is going to be an NFL starter, he might make sense as the pick at No. 2.
Jets Clips
The Jets didn’t have much to say about their plans at the quarterback position at the Scouting Combine last week, but things should come into clearer view in the near future.
They opened the 2025 season with Justin Fields in the job, cycled through Tyrod Taylor and lost their final four games with undrafted rookie Brady Cook getting his first taste of NFL action. Fields signed a two-year deal, but General Manager Darren Mougey said only that he’s under contract while saying the team would evaluate the position “through every landscape” as they head toward the 2026 campaign.
Free agency and the trade market are the first landscapes up on the calendar and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com had a report about the team’s potential path through those phases over the weekend. Cimini reported that there’s a feeling that the team could look to add a pair of veteran options to the roster as they try to improve on last year’s 3-14 record.
Cimini adds that the options they are not expected to focus on options at the top end of the market and mentions names like Tyson Bagent, Tanner McKee, Spencer Rattler, and Jarrett Stidham as the kind of players that the team could work to acquire.
There’s also the draft, but the Raiders aren’t expected to trade them the No. 1 pick so they can take Fernando Mendoza and there’s no quarterback that would make sense at No. 2. The Jets have another first-rounder and two second-round picks, but they also have three 2027 first-round picks and going the stop-gap route could signal that they’ll wait to go all in on another young quarterback.
The Jets have the misfortune of needing a quarterback, and having the No. 2 overall pick, in a year when there’s only one elite quarterback prospect in the draft. Jets General Manager Darren Mougey would love to trade up and draft Fernando Mendoza, but he doesn’t expect the Raiders to be interested.
Mougey said he would talk to his friend Raiders GM John Spytek about the No. 1 overall pick, but he thinks Spytek will tell him there’s no chance.
“Absolutely, we’ll talk about all those things, but I don’t think that’s happening,” Mougey said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.
If they wanted to, the Jets could put together a massive package of picks to get Mendoza. In addition to their own picks, the Jets have the Colts’ first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, plus the higher of the Cowboys’ or Packers’ first-round pick in 2027. Teams can trade first-round picks up to three years in advance, so the Jets could call the Raiders right now and offer them a total of six first-round picks for the No. 1 pick.
That would be one of the biggest trades in NFL history, and a trade Mougey doesn’t think is realistic.
Jets owner Woody Johnson may feel differently this year about the NFL Players Association report cards.
In 2025, Johnson called the effort “totally bogus” after receiving an F. This year, Johnson got a B.
Johnson’s attack from a year ago was unequivocal, and unlimited.
“The whole thing,” Johnson said of the report cards. “How they collected the information, who they collected it from, it’s supposed to be a process where we have representatives and they have representatives so we know it’s an honest survey. And that was violated in my opinion. So I’ll leave it at that. But there’s a lot of owners that looked at this survey and said this is not fair, not balanced, it’s not every player, it’s not even representative of the players.”
His reference to the process comes from Article 39 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which contemplates that the league and the union will conduct a joint survey once every three years. An arbitrator recently rejected the league’s claim that the NFLPA’s unilateral effort to conduct a survey violates the CBA.
The NFL won as to the contention that, under Article 51 of the CBA, the two parties can’t publicly criticize each other. Although the 2026 report cards weren’t published, they were promptly leaked to the media.
Johnson may no longer have a problem with that, given the grade he received this year. Overall, the Jets landed in the A and B range, with the exception of their F- home field.
Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.
The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.
The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:
1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).
The NFL set the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million on Friday and they also revealed the franchise and transition tag numbers that teams will be able to use on their own free agents.
The Cowboys will be using the non-exclusive tag on wide receiver George Pickens and that will carry a salary of $27.298 million for the coming season. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has also been tagged and the team will owe him $15.045 million if he plays out the year under the tag.
Non-exclusive tags are set at the higher of the sum of the previous five franchise tags at a player’s position divided by the salary caps for those years or 120 percent of the player’s salary from the previous season. Players who receive that tag can sign offer sheets with other clubs and their original team receives two first-round picks if they choose not to match the offer.
Exclusive franchise tags are also available. The salary is set at the greater of the top five salaries at their position for the previous year or the non-exclusive amount and players who receive that tag cannot negotiate with other clubs.
No players have received a transition tag at this point, but there is some speculation that the Jets will use it for running back Breece Hall. That amount would be $11.323 million, which is derived from the average of the top 10 prior year salaries. Teams can match any offer sheets for players on transition tags, but they do not receive any compensation for choosing not to match.
The non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag amounts for each position are:
Quarterback: $43.895 million (franchise), $37.833 million (transition)
Running Back: $14.293 million, $11.323 million
Wide Receiver: $27.298 million, $23.852 million
Tight End: $15.045 million, $12.687 million
Offensive Line: $25.773 million, $23.392 million
Defensive End: $24.434 million, $21.512 million
Defensive Tackle: $27.127 million, $22.521 million
Linebacker: $26.865 million, $21.925 million
Cornerback: $21.161 million, $18.119 million
Safety: $20.149 million, $16.012 million
Kicker/Punter: $6.649 million, $6.005 million
Titans head coach Robert Saleh is set to have one of his former Jets players join him in Tennessee.
According to multiple reports, the Jets have agreed to trade edge rusher Jermaine Johnson to the Titans. The Titans will send defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat back to the Jets once the trade can become official on the first day of the new league year.
Johnson was a Jets first-round pick in 2022 and Saleh was the team’s head coach at the time. He had 10 sacks over his first two seasons, but tore his Achilles two games into the 2024 season. He returned to record 43 tackles and three sacks last season.
The Jets picked up Johnson’s option for 2026, which leaves him set to make $13.411 million this year.
Sweat was a 2024 second-round pick in Tennessee. He has 85 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 29 career games.
Arvell Reese is expected to be one of the top picks in this year’s draft and one of the reasons he is so highly rated is the versatility he showed while playing for Ohio State.
Reese saw time as both an off-ball linebacker and an edge rusher while with the Buckeyes and his potential in both spots boosted his prospect status heading into the draft process. Reese plans to continue giving teams a chance to see him in both roles at the Scouting Combine this week.
During a press conference on Wednesday morning, Reese told reporters that he plans to do drills at both linebacker and edge rusher this week. He also plans to run the 40-yard dash during his time in Indianapolis.
Reese said that he’s also started meeting with several teams. One of those teams is the Jets, who own the second overall pick and could make Reese a centerpiece of a much-needed defensive rebuild in head coach Aaron Glenn’s second season with the team.
Aaron Glenn’s first season as the Jets’ head coach was a major disappointment and his second year will feature some significant differences to how the team conducts business.
Frank Reich is the new offensive coordinator and Brian Duker was hired as defensive coordinator after Steve Wilks was fired during the 2025 season. Wilks called the team’s defensive plays, but Duker won’t have that responsibility. Glenn will take on that role after doing it as the Lions’ defensive coordinator and Glenn said at a Tuesday press conference that he “missed being able to be in the fire with those guys” while overseeing the entire team last year.
“To me, play calling is my superpower, really,” Glenn said, via the Associated Press. “Doing it for four years in Detroit, man, just look at the maturation of those four years of how we improved every year and how I improved as as a play caller. I really miss doing that. I think it’s a huge part of helping us become the team that I see us becoming.”
The Jets finished 31st in points allowed last season and became the first team in NFL history to go an entire season without recording an interception, so the need for significant improvement on that side of the ball is obvious. If Glenn isn’t able to make that improvement, the Jets may be heading back onto the coaching carousel in 2027.
It doesn’t look like Jets running back Breece Hall will be hitting the open market when the new league year opens next month.
Hall played out the final year of his rookie deal in 2025, but General Manager Darren Mougey said at a Tuesday press conference from the Scouting Combine that the team is set to tag the running back if they aren’t able to work out a long-term deal to keep him in the fold.
“The tags are an option,” Mougey said. “Ideally, we’d find a way to get a deal done and keep Breece around. I think I’ve said that for the last year since I’ve got here. Breece is a good player, want to find a way to keep him around. . . . We’ll find a way to keep Breece here if we can’t get a deal done.”
PFT reported that the current belief around the league is that the Jets would use the transition tag rather than the franchise tag in order to maintain a hold on Hall. The salary for the transition tag is expected to be in the $11 million range rather than the roughly $14.5 million salary that would come with the franchise tag. The transition tag would not entitle the Jets to compensation if another team successfully signs Hall to an offer sheet, but they would have an option to match the deal or rescind the tag if they don’t plan to go that route.
The deadline to use either tag is March 3.
