As the 2025 NFL season winds down, about half the league will start thinking about the playoffs, while the other half turns its attention to the 2026 NFL Draft. Heading into Week 15, the New York Giants hold the No. 1 overall pick. But with a potential franchise quarterback in Jaxson Dart already in the building, ESPN's Field Yates has the G Men trading that pick to the New York Jets in his latest 2026 NFL mock draft.
While the Giants may have their long-term solution at quarterback, the Jets definitely don't, after a season that saw them play Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, and Brady Cook. That's why Fields predicts that New Jersey's AFC team will trade up from No. 7 to take Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza with the top pick.
While Yates doesn't mention what it would cost the Jets to move up six spots, the Carolina Panthers gave the Chicago Bears two firsts, two seconds, and wide receiver D.J. Moore to move from No. 9 to No. 1 in 2023.
Those picks would certainly jumpstart the Giants' rebuild around Dart and for whatever head coach takes over for Brian Daboll. In this particular 2026 NFL mock draft, Yates has Big Blue taking Arizona wideout Jordyn Tyson, who would be the second WR off the board after Carnell Tate.
Tyson would, hypothetically, give Dart a tremendous complement of offensive weapons, assuming that Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo return at full strength from their respective leg injuries next season.
So, while this 2026 NFL mock draft trade makes sense for both franchises, the biggest question is whether these two teams, which share a stadium, would make such a monumental deal with each other. Because if they do, the back pages of the New York tabloids will celebrate the winner of this deal and excoriate the loser for years to come.
