There were reports that the Jets were trying to trade defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and safety Calvin Pryor at points during the draft, but both players remain on the roster with all seven rounds in the books.
Richardson trade talks were no surprise as the Jets also discussed moving the 2013 first-round pick before the trade deadline last season. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that a deal is still possible this offseason, but that his $8.1 million salary is a “sticking point” in talks with other teams.
General Manager Mike Maccagnan didn’t rule anything out when discussing Richardson on Saturday.
“Sheldon’s under contract,” Maccagnan said. “He’s part of our organization going forward. And we’ll see how things develop over time. But again, he’s under contract. Going forward that’s where we are with Sheldon. ... There’s a whole offseason ahead of us here. We’ll see how it unfolds going forward.”
Maccagnan gave a similar answer about Pryor, who saw the Jets draft safeties in each of the first two rounds. Maccagnan said the team “will let this thing play itself out,” but he doesn’t see any reason they couldn’t hold onto Pryor and coach Todd Bowles used three safeties together when he was with Arizona.
“We have a bunch of packages where we play three safeties at one time,” Bowles said, via NJ.com. “We like to do that. We didn’t have the luxury last year, but we have that in our packages.”
The Jets have until Wednesday to pick up the 2018 option on Pryor’s contract, but it seems likely they’ll pass given the way the draft played out.