Jets considering trading up

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan intends to spend a lot of time on the phone over the weekend, contacting the five teams ahead of the Jets in next week's NFL draft.

The Jets will explore the possibility of trading up, said Maccagnan -- an acknowledgement that will, no doubt, fuel the Marcus Mariota speculation.

But the Jets' first-year GM, speaking Friday at his pre-draft news conference, quickly tempered his interest in moving up, saying he is hesitant to give away draft picks. Philosophically, he prefers a quantity-over-quality approach.

"We're going to reach out to every team ahead of us to gauge, to get a value for what they're looking for in compensation to move up in the draft," Maccagnan said. "That doesn't mean we're actually trying to go up and get a player, but you [see] what the market value is, basically."

The Jets currently have six picks for the draft, which begins Thursday.

The cost to jump from No. 6 to No. 2, the spot generating the most Mariota chatter, would be enormous -- probably multiple first-round picks. The Tennessee Titans hold that pick, and several teams are thought to be interested in acquiring it.

The Jets are showing considerable interest in the former Oregon quarterback. In a span of five days in late March and early April, they conducted a private workout in Eugene, Oregon, and flew him to New Jersey to meet with team officials at the Jets' facility.

But speaking in general terms, Maccagnan made it sound like he is not interested in mortgaging part of the team's future for one player.

"Philosophically, I'm not opposed to moving up in the draft to get a player if you feel it's a player that's going to be an extremely good player, but I would, personally, like to get more picks," he said. "It would be more opportunities to acquire more talent."

The Jets were one of the busiest teams in free agency, adding 15 players for about $80 million in guarantees, but they still have glaring needs. One of them is quarterback. They have inconsistent incumbent Geno Smith and veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick, whom they acquired in a trade.

Maccagnan declined to comment on whether he considers quarterback a need, saying he doesn't want to put himself at a competitive disadvantage for the draft. The only thing he said about the quarterback situation was that he's "absolutely" comfortable with the homework they have done on Mariota.

The Jets, coming off a 4-12 season, also have needs at outside linebacker and on the offensive line.

New York has around 285 to 290 players on its draft board, Maccagnan said, after evaluating around 1,400 players over the past several months.

Maccagnan, an economics major in college, used a stock-market analogy when evaluating a trade-up scenario.

"It's almost like a portfolio," he said. "Do you pick one stock you think is going to give a big return, or do you pick three stocks that may not hit the ceiling but, in terms of the overall value, gets a higher yield?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.