Sam Darnold trade is a win-win for him and the Jets

The Sam Darnold era came to an end in New York yesterday when the Jets sent him to the Carolina Panthers in a deal that landed them three draft picks. The selections, a sixth-rounder this year plus second and fourth-rounders in 2022, add to the haul of draft choices that GM Joe Douglas has built up over the past two years.

The move brings an end to a Jets' career that started with so much promise for Darnold, who was thought to be the franchise's savior when he was selected third overall in the 2018 draft. Darnold finished his rookie season on a tear but never took a leap forward under former head coach Adam Gase, leaving the Jets scrambling for an answer at the quarterback position after a 2-14 season.

That answer should come with the No. 2 overall pick, which will end up being BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, a perfect fit for the new system offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is set to implement. Darnold also was a candidate to play well in this system but the way his contract situation was set up made a trade the logical endpoint for the Jets.

The modern NFL is designed to reward teams who can build efficiently around a quarterback on his rookie contract since his salary cap hit is lower, allowing the organization to surround the potential franchise quarterback with premier talent. The Jets squandered this opportunity with Darnold thanks to some hideous roster-building from former GM Mike Maccagnan, who botched the 2019 offseason and draft, along with a 2020 offseason from Douglas that was admittedly far too conservative.

While there is a chance Darnold could have improved this season with better coaching and a supporting cast, the opportunity cost for the Jets could have been massive. Darnold is on the final year of his rookie contract and would have needed his fifth-year option picked up before he played a game in the new system, guaranteeing Darnold a massive raise. The upshot is that Douglas would have been able to shop the No. 2 pick in the draft and secure the kind of haul that the Miami Dolphins got from the San Francisco 49ers, but the problem was that if Darnold failed to progress the Jets would be stuck in no man's land trying to find a quarterback.

Selecting Wilson allows the organization to truly reset itself with the GM, head coach, and quarterback all on the same timetable for the first time since the Mike Tannenbaum-Rex Ryan-Mark Sanchez trio back in 2009. Douglas will be able to use his 21 draft picks to fill out his roster and add key starters, accelerating the rebuild by finding the kind of homegrown talent the organization has lacked for a decade.

The move is also beneficial for Darnold, who gets a fresh start in Carolina with a coaching staff that believes he can be a star. Darnold will get a significant upgrade in skill-position talent with the Panthers, who have Christian McCaffrey in the backfield as one of the NFL's best running backs and a talented receiving corps that includes former Jet Robby Anderson.

This deal is a true win-win for both the Jets and Darnold, each of whom now get a chance to start fresh in an ideal situation. Douglas also did well to place Darnold in the NFC, a spot where he can't hurt them if he does become a more productive NFL quarterback. Time will tell if the move was the right one for both teams but once the Jets were convinced that Wilson was their guy it made perfect sense to try and maximize their return for Darnold.