Joe Douglas made some moves on Saturday.
The Jets entered the third day of the draft with just three picks — one in the fourth round and two in the fifth round.
But their general manager made two trades and the Jets ended the day with five draft choices.
“There’s a game plan going in,” Douglas said. “We wanted to multiply these picks any way you can but it takes two, right? The phone was ringing today and it was a good thing. I felt like we were able to get pretty good value on some of these trade-backs and more importantly have more swings. Excited to have those conversations, get those trades done and add some more picks.”
The first trade was with the rival Patriots.
The Jets traded a fourth-round pick (112 overall) to New England in exchange for a fourth-round pick (120) and a sixth-rounder (184).
It was not the first time the two rivals engaged in a draft-day trade with Douglas as the Jets’ GM.
The two made a deal during the draft in 2020, too.
They also made an in-season trade in 2019 for wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, with the Patriots receiving a sixth-round pick.
On Saturday, the Patriots used that 112th pick to draft Maryland kicker Chad Ryland.
Later in the day, the Jets sent the 170th pick (fifth round) to the Raiders in exchange for the 204th (sixth round) and 220th (seventh round) picks.
That meant the Jets drafted seven players over the three days of the draft.
They entered the draft with five picks after they sent a second-round pick to the Packers for Aaron Rodgers earlier in the week.
Douglas would not announce whether the Jets will pick up the fifth-year option for 2020 first-round pick Mekhi Becton.
The deadline is Monday to pick up his option for 2024. The Jets would be crazy to pick up the option, but they still are not announcing it.
When asked what this week has been like after the Jets added Rodgers and then seven draft picks, head coach Robert Saleh stood up and hugged Douglas with a big laugh.
“It’s been a fun week. To get Aaron here, it’s a blessing,” Saleh said. “Then for this draft, to get who we felt was one of the better pass rushers and then to add to the O line and get the [running] back from Pitt who just has so much juice and breakaway speed. To add these guys on Day 3, Joe turning three picks into [five] and to add depth and to add versatility and to add smart guys who fit our build in terms of character and mindset. We got better this week, a lot better this week.”