Remembering the Time the Jets Actually Won a Trade With the Sheldon Richardson-Seahawks Deal

The New York Jets knew they needed to start a rebuild in 2017, and they did so by trading away one of the few good draft picks from John Idzik's legendarily bad tenure as GM in defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson.

Richardson was dealt to the Seattle Seahawks in a trade that actually set the Jets up nicely for the future.

The Jets gave away Richardson and a seventh-rounder and received wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, who tallied 1,181 yards in two seasons as a Jet, and a second-rounder. Richardson played just one year in Seattle before he shuffled between the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns over the last two seasons.

While the second-round pick, No. 49th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, eventually ended up in the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles and became tight end Dallas Goedert, the Jets used that pick as part of the package to trade with the Indianapolis Colts in order to take quarterback Sam Darnold third overall in 2018.

Darnold has yet to realize his full potential, as the struggles are clear and obvious against good teams, but the Jets have to be excited about what he can do with a solid offensive line.

Who Won The Trade?

The Jets clearly won this trade, but the degree to which they will have "won it" will depend on Darnold's improvement. If he becomes a franchise guy, the Richardson deal helped them grab their best quarterback in decades. If he stinks, they traded a quality lineman to move up for another bust quarterback. But then again, he barely spent any time in Seattle so this could just all around be a W for New York.