{"id":209608,"date":"2026-04-25T17:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/209608\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T17:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:25:10","slug":"jets-trade-up-to-land-clemson-qb-cade-klubnik-in-nfl-draft-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/209608\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets trade up to land Clemson QB Cade Klubnik in NFL draft surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Jets did not draft a franchise quarterback this year, but they did not give Geno Smith a free path to the starting job either.<\/p>\n<p>General manager Darren Mougey and Co. traded up Saturday to take Clemson\u2019s Cade Klubnik 110th overall in the fourth round, sending the 128th and 140th picks to Cincinnati.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50810015;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39196587\" width=\"890\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2-clemson-tigers-throws-pass-117913978.jpg\" alt=\"Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik #2 throws a pass.\" class=\"wp-image-39196587\"  \/>Clemson QB Cade Klubnik throws a pass during the Pinstripe Bowl in 2025. Heather Khalifa for The New York Post<\/p>\n<p>Klubnik, who played four years in the ACC, finished his college career with over 10,000 yards.<\/p>\n<p>He measures 6-foot-2, 207 pounds, though his draft stock declined in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Klubnik, however, still heard his name called before LSU\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier and Vanderbilt\u2019s polarizing Diego Pavia, a Heisman Trophy finalist.<\/p>\n<p>The Jets need to sort out their long-term quarterback situation, having brought Smith back to New York as a short-term solution in a trade with the Raiders last month.<\/p>\n<p>They declined to do so, though, with any of their first-round picks, instead taking <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/23\/sports\/jets-take-david-bailey-with-no-2-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">edge rusher David Bailey second overall<\/a>, tight end Kenyon Sadiq 16th and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. 30th.<\/p>\n<p>Klubnik seems to be the compromise option.<\/p>\n<p>The Jets can go into training camp with Smith as the likely No. 1, Klubnik as the presumed backup and a general assumption that they will look to find a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/24\/sports\/jets-massive-stategy-shift-clear-at-nfl-draft-as-biggest-decision-looms-in-future\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">franchise signal-caller in 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A year from now, of course, is when a quarterback class that could include Arch Manning, along with Dante Moore, Julian Sayin, LaNorris Sellers and Brendan Sorsby, will be available in the draft.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39196594\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/clemson-quarterback-cade-klubnik-works-123397688.jpg\" alt=\"Cade Klubnik, wearing a purple hoodie, on a football field during NFL Pro Day.\" class=\"wp-image-39196594\"  \/>Klubnik\u2019s stock fell this past season, but the Jets still selected him in the fourth round. AP<\/p>\n<p>Sticking with a bridge solution at QB also buys Mougey and coach Aaron Glenn some time after a putrid first year in charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jets did not draft a franchise quarterback this year, but they did not give Geno Smith a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[37362,9,11,430,10,22,12258,46065,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-209608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-clemson-tigers","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-nfl-draft-2026","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}