What’s Really at Stake for the Jets Against the Saints
The New York Jets will go to battle against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, and although it’s not exactly a clash of Titans, there’s more at stake than may meet the eye. The Jets and Saints have been battling for much of the season already, just not in the way you may think. The true battle has been for draft position. The three-win Jets currently hold the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, but the four-win Saints are sitting at seven, with the Arizona Cardinals between them at six. A Saints win would essentially lock them out of the top five, but a loss would vault them over both New York and Arizona due to strength of schedule tiebreakers. Despite it being such a small shift position-wise, these teams swapping spots could have massive implications for them.
For the Jets, a win would be damaging for two reasons. Assuming they’re targeting a quarterback in this draft, a win would push them down the board and make it that much more difficult to trade up for their guy. Even if they aren’t looking to get a quarterback and want to build the roster in preparation for next year’s class, losing ground in the draft, especially with such a thin quarterback class, means that naturally there will be less talent to choose from. Moving down even a spot or two could result in them missing out on a player like linebacker Arvell Reese, wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, or even someone like quarterback Dante Moore if he decides he wants to declare for the draft. Obviously there’s the argument of building the culture, and the team giving up and not caring on the field like against the Jaguars, especially with a first-year coach like Aaron Glenn, is never a good sign, but losing a close game where they look like they’re at least trying might not be the worst thing in the world.
As for the Saints, they’re in an interesting position. If they win, they’re most likely out of the range for any top-tier quarterback prospect in this class, but that might not even be a problem for them. Rookie Tyler Shough has been playing some really good ball the last few weeks and is starting to look comfortable as a starter. Whether he’s shown enough for them to disregard someone like Dante Moore or Fernando Mendoza falling into their laps is to be seen, but if they beat the Jets, that’s most likely not going to happen. Assuming Shough keeps playing as he is, it’d be shocking if the Saints were in trade-up talks this draft season as well. A win would still hurt them a bit for the same reason as the Jets, possibly missing out on blue-chip guys, but with a legitimate option at quarterback for 2026, they have much more flexibility at their spot.
