Getty Cleveland Browns running back Kareem Hunt working through some drills during practice.
Shortly after the news broke that rookie sensation Breece Hall would miss the rest of the 2022 season with a torn ACL, the New York Jets got to work.
Over the years if this sort of injury would have hit them, the team likely would’ve simply replaced him with an in-house option. However, at 5-2, the Jets have embraced a much different mindset with their intentions for this season.
Gang Green ultimately traded for James Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday, October 24 to help fill the void. Although that wasn’t the first call the green and white made over the weekend.
Jets Called Browns About a Trade for Kareem Hunt
NFL Insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated unloaded some juicy nuggets ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
One of the most interesting revealed was that the Jets were a team that “investigated” a Kareem Hunt trade with the Cleveland Browns.
According to Breer the cost to acquire Hunt would have cost “around a fourth-rounder.” As we have already documented, the Jets ended up going in a different direction by snagging Robinson from Jacksonville.
However, the trade call reveals a few things, the most noteworthy of which is the Jets aren’t playing around. You wouldn’t make an inquiry on a player like Hunt unless you were serious about winning this year and making a run.
That thought alone should be a huge source of pride among Jets fans.
Hunt is a far superior player to Robinson in basically every facet, which explains why he would have had a significantly higher acquisition cost.
Robinson was traded for a conditional sixth that is likely to become a fifth based on some simple statistical escalators.
Hunt could be had for around a fourth and from what I’m hearing the cost may be slightly higher compensation than that.
The former Toledo product is a former Pro Bowler, has led the NFL in rushing, and presents problems in both the running and passing game. Cleveland wouldn’t just throw him away for nothing, despite his trade request this offseason.
James Robinson vs. Kareem Hunt as Jets Trade Options
Did the Jets make the right decision at the NFL trade deadline is going to be a really fascinating storyline to watch in 2022.
Robinson cost less financially and via draft compensation, but that’s because he is a lesser player. However, the Jets know that Hall will eventually return to the fold which also has to be factored in.
Robinson is owed less than $600,000 for the rest of 2022 and will be a cheap option to re-sign in 2023 as a restricted free agent.
On the other side of the coin, Hunt’s cap hit for this season is $6.3 million. According to Spotrac’s market value projections, the talented playmaker is set to make over $7.2 million annually on a multi-year deal next offseason when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Hunt is 27 years old and will be 28 by the start of the 2023 season. While Robinson is only 24 years of age and will be 25 by the start of next year. That is a full three-year age gap and a significant financial difference in the contract structure.
Obviously, general manager Joe Douglas weighed on all of these different factors when he was deciding to make a trade after the Hall news. Both players are talented and would have been great fits at a minimum for 2022, if not beyond that.
When you evaluate everything, I think the Jets made the right call with Robinson, but man Hunt would have brought a different dynamic to this offense.