Many mock drafts have the Jets taking a safety with their top-five pick, selecting Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton with the fourth overall pick.
Hamilton struggled with injury last season but it loaded with talent, yet taking a safety that early in the draft isn’t always seen as the best use of assets, not to mention Gang Green’s recent history with taking a safety in the top 10. Jamal Adams was selected sixth overall in 2017, and he showcased elite talent before demanding a large contract before he was traded to the Seahawks.
Because of that, many Jets fans oppose the idea of using a coveted pick on a safety, but it doesn’t seem like head coach Robert Saleh is ruling it out.
“Depends on how good he is,” Saleh told reporters on Wednesday. “I call them unicorns. I would never want to take a linebacker in the first round, but Tremaine Edmunds was sitting there and I wore his jersey to the draft. He’s a unicorn in the linebacker world. Same thing with a safety.
“You can never say no to a unicorn and someone who has a tremendous talent and clearly the best possible player you can take at that time. You never want to be stubborn to your thought process. To answer your question about taking a safety, if he’s worthy of it, it will definitely be a discussion.”
Edmunds was taken 16th overall by the Bills, and has turned in two Pro Bowl campaigns in four NFL seasons. So he has worked out for Buffalo, but No. 4 is a much higher pick that demands more of a sure thing at a position not as easy to fill through free agency or trades, but if the player is right, Saleh won’t fixate on his position.
As for free agency, Saleh said the Jets are prepared to tackle that market, but the draft remains their top priority in terms of building a sustained contender.
“We wrapped up all our free agency discussions with the scouts yesterday, and feel really good about the plan,” Saleh said. “Joe [Douglas] and I will continue to have discussions leading up to the moment…we feel really good about where we’re at.
“It’s a tool, and it’s gonna be fun to use that tool, but at the end of the day, it still comes down to the draft.”
That comes back to why Saleh isn’t in attendance at the Scouting Combine, telling reporters that he stayed behind to focus on free agency and the draft.
“We really felt for us it was just a more efficient ways to utilize our time,” Saleh said.
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