According to Ian Rapoport, two other teams who were legitimately interested in potentially trading with the Jets for QB Sam Darnold were the 49ers and Washington.
Rapoport said the Washington Football Team had conversations about the move before ultimately going in a different direction in free agency with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
As for the 49ers, Rapoport says they asked the Jets what it would take for them to trade Darnold, but at the time, New York wasn’t ready to make a move.
San Francisco obviously pivoted hard with their blockbuster trade up to No. 3 overall and the Jets later found a trade partner for Darnold when they were ready in the Panthers.
Darnold, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Jets back in 2018. He’s entering the fourth year of his four-year, $30,370,490 contract with the Jets that included a $20,167,628 signing bonus.
The Panthers traded a 2021 sixth to go along with 2022 second- and fourth-round picks for Darnold earlier this offseason. Carolina also picked up Darnold’s fifth-year option.
The fifth-year option will run the Panthers $18.858 million for the 2022 season.
In 2020, Darnold appeared in 12 games for the Jets and threw for 2,208 yards, nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 59.6 percent of his passes to go along with 217 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
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