New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts
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A snapshot from a contest between the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets.
One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity.
New York Jets fans have plenty of things to root for in 2026. Or should I say against? The green and white hold the first round draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts in 2027. So the worse the Colts perform next season, the better it is for the Jets.
NFL reporter Henry McKenna of FOX Sports explained to me why he believes Indianapolis has a chance to be a “disaster” next season.
“I have a few favorite assets as far as the Jets go. I love Garrett Wilson, like I just love him, but maybe behind him, it’s that Colts pick. The Colts could be an absolute disaster this year. We saw them going off the rails even before Daniel Jones suffered his injury. Speaking of moves that smack of desperation, the entire Colts offseason has looked like an absolute makeup session. Like they’re doing everything they can to look like they know what they’re doing, and I don’t see a coherent plan for 2026 and 2027,” McKenna bluntly said on “Boy Green Meets Wudi.”
“I see them committing big money to Daniel Jones in ’26. He is a guy who is not just coming off an Achilles injury, but a broken lower leg. So we are talking about two major injuries to a quarterback’s lower body. That is the kind of stuff that doesn’t take one year to recover, that takes two years to recover. So, for them to make a long-term commitment to a guy who is almost definitely going to regress, and a guy who didn’t have a lot of room for regression in his game. In 2026, I don’t know what they think is going to happen next year except for them to lose a lot of games,” McKenna added.
Paul Andrew Esden Jr
#NFL reporter @henrycmckenna of @FOXSports told me & @thejameswudi that he believes the #Colts could be a “disaster” in 2026, which is GREAT NEWS for the #Jets: 😈
“I have a few favorite assets as far as the Jets go. I love Garrett Wilson, like I just love him, but maybe behind
No Pain, No Gain
The Jets undeniably got worse at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. They shipped off two of their brightest stars for future assets. A promising future to be sure, but a painful present.
Losing Sauce Gardner, who is one of the best cornerbacks in football, was a tough blow for the Jets. However, that short-term pain might pay off in a major way. They sent Gardner to Indy and received a pair of first-round draft choices.
The No. 16 overall pick in 2026 and TBD in 2027.
McKenna said he doesn’t believe the Colts’ current regime is “going to make it to 2027” if his assessment of the team is correct.
“When a desperate organization tries to push too many chips onto the table, and the risk ends up burning them for the next [regime] having to foot the bill. I think the Colts are in a really bad spot. That obviously could be to the Jets’ advantage,” McKenna told me.
“Colts look like a real mess to me. So I think that is a real opportunity for the Jets to have a nice pick at the top of the draft,” McKenna added.
Colts Hate Dogpile
McKenna isn’t the only person who has had a negative thing to say about the Colts’ offseason so far.
Alex Kay of Bleacher Report called the Colts a “pretender.”
ESPN’s Ben Solak ranked every team in the NFL’s free agency performance this offseason. The Colts were ranked 27th out of 32 teams.
“I didn’t love: The defensive back seven. This is about as thin of a linebacker and safety room as I’ve seen in the post-free agency, predraft space. The current projected starters at linebacker are Austin Ajiake, Jaylon Carlies, and [Akeem] Davis-Gaither. At safety, Hunter Wohler will replace Nick Cross. The Colts have tried to find viable starters on minimum contracts in Juanyeh Thomas and Jonathan Owens, but it’s a bleak outlook in the back seven for Indianapolis. Without a first-round pick, the Colts will struggle to fill all of their current gaps,” Solak explained.
That Gardner trade with the Colts could prove to be the key to the Jets finding their long-term franchise quarterback.