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The Jets' trade of Calvin Pryor to Cleveland on Friday was big news, but only because it's early June and only because Pryor is a former first-round pick. The reality is Pryor, who had a nice season in 2015 but was a disaster last season, was going to get released by a Jets team that is rebuilding and ultimately just became a swap of two replacement-level players between two bottom-feeding teams.

After the Jets invested heavily in the safety position in the 2017 NFL Draft, adding Jamal Adams (No. 6 overall) and Marcus Maye (No. 39 overall) early, Pryor became expendable. And he became the latest player drafted by the John Idzik regime to no longer be on the roster. 

It feels sort of mean to look back at the disaster that was those two years for the Jets, but it's important to realize just how quickly a pair of bad drafts can set a franchise back. 

Let's look at the drafts in question. 

Player, POS

Round, Pick

Career AV

Current Status

Notable Information

Dee Milliner, CB

1, 9

6

Free agent

3 INT in three years with Jets

Sheldon Richardson, DT

1, 13

26

On Jets roster

18 sacks in four years with Jets

Geno Smith, QB

2, 39

14

On Giants roster

28 TD, 36 INT in four years with Jets

Brian Winters, OL

3, 72

15

On Jets roster

41 career starts, No. 41 G in 2016 (PFF)

Oday Aboushi, OL

5, 141

7

On Seahawks roster

One year on Jets roster

William Campbell, OL

6, 178

0

Playing in CFL

Zero starts for Jets

Tommy Bohanon, RB

7, 215

1

On Jaguars roster

67 rushing yards in three years with Jets

The 2013 NFL Draft was pretty terrible overall, but the Jets really managed to make a mess of things. For starters, this was a terrible year to have two first-round picks. Of the top 10 picks, four (Eric Fisher, Lane Johnson, Ezekiel Ansah, Tavon Austin) are still on their original teams. 

Milliner was an unmitigated disaster. Richardson is actually a good player and one of the few guys to make a Pro Bowl out of this first round, but he has had off-field issues and the Jets seem pretty hell bent on trading him instead of rewarding him with a new deal. The Jets got that pick from the Buccaneers after trading Darrelle Revis, but would ultimately end up paying him a massive contract anyway. 

Smith was treated like a first-round pick and had a nightmare career with New York. On the bright side, he helped to usher out Tim Tebow? Brian Winters is the only other player from this draft who is still on the Jets roster. If/when Richardson ends up being shipped out and not given a new contract, it's very likely that not a single one of these players from the 2013 draft will have made it to a second contract with the Jets. That's not great.

The next year wasn't much better. In fact, in the context of the actual draft class -- one of the best in recent years -- it could actually be pointed out the Jets did a worse job than the year before. 

Player, POS

Round, Pick

Career AV

Current Status

Notable Information

Calvin Pryor, DB

1, 18

14

Traded to Browns

2 INT in three years

Jace Amaro, TE

2, 49

4

On Titans roster

38 receptions in one year with Jets

Dexter McDougle, DB

3, 80

1

On Jets roster

Waived once by Jets

Jalen Saunders, WR

4, 104

0

Free agent

Released in September 2014

Shaquelle Evans, WR

4, 115

0

Free agent

Zero career receptions

Dakota Dozier, OL

4, 137

1

On Jets roster

Jeremiah George, LB

5, 154

1

Free agent

Released in September 2014

Brandon Dixon, DB

6, 195

1

On Steelers roster

Released in August 2014

Quincy Enunwa, WR

6, 209

9

On Jets roster

Waived once by Jets, 1,172 receiving yards

IK Enemkpali, LB

6, 210

1

Free agent

Once broke Geno Smith's jaw

Tajh Boyd, QB

6, 213

0

Free agent

Zero career passing attempts

Trevor Reilly, LB

7, 233

2

On Dolphins roster

So, yeah. The only starter-quality player that the Jets acquired in 2014 was Quincy Enunwa, who was actually released by the team in September 2014 (along with several of these players) and placed on the practice squad before being promoted to the active roster later in his rookie year. 

Again, we have a case of not a single player making it to a second contract. There was even a player in this draft -- IK Enemkpali -- who managed to damage a player -- Geno Smith -- from a previous draft. Enemkpali rather notably punched Smith in the face in the locker room, breaking his jaw and knocking him out of the lineup for almost three months. 

All told, the Jets managed to come away with five players who are on the roster from two years worth of drafts. Not five starters mind you -- five players on the roster. That is horrific.

Was anyone worse?

And it made us wonder whether the Jets managed to have the worst pair of draft classes over that two-year stretch. Looking at every single team's draft, it's pretty easy to identify a group of teams that qualify as candidates to unseat the Jets.

But it's also easy to take three quarters of the league and eliminate them. Either someone drafted a star or someone drafted enough good players that the Jets would trade draft classes in a heartbeat. We're only counting players who are still on the roster. Some teams have more than just three players, but the point was to identify enough guys that would qualify them as better than Richardson, Enunwa and Winters.

Here's which teams had unquestionably better drafts than the Jets:

That's a pretty large list, but that feels pretty fair when it comes to ruling those teams out. There's a much smaller group of teams who might have a case to be made for being worse than the Jets. 

Other contenders for worst 2013-14 drafts

Titans (Taylor Lewan) and Bears (Kyle Long): These are impressively bad draft classes for these franchises. If not for identifying a star on the offensive line, they would beat out the Jets. Given Richardson's status with New York (unlikely to remain), we're gonna give the nod to Tennessee and Chicago as better. 

Colts (Jack Mewhort, Donte Moncrief, Hugh Thornton): Not exactly a dynamic group of guys for the Colts either. But their drafts as a whole would be taken over the pair from the Jets. It shouldn't be surprising that they have looked like a team with Andrew Luck and not a lot else.

Broncos (Bradley Roby, Sylvester Williams, Matt Paradis): Conventional wisdom tells us that John Elway built a perennial contender, and Denver did win the Super Bowl after the 2015 season, so it's hard to nitpick too much here. But they secretly didn't have good drafts for that two years. 

Saints (Brandin Cooks, Kenny Vaccaro, Terron Armstead): The Saints got a first-round pick in exchange for Cooks, who was a good pick, so it's hard not to give them better marks than the Jets.

Seahawks (Justin Britt, Luke Willson, Paul Richardson): Woah. This was ... surprising. Or maybe not. The Seahawks didn't have a first-round pick in either of these drafts (the Jimmy Graham and Percy Harvin trades), so they were at a disadvantage. It might also explain why Seattle is struggling to protect Russell Wilson. The Seahawks still edge out the Jets, but this was terrifically close. 

Browns (Joel Bitonio, Christian Kirksey): Here's the amazing thing about this stretch for the Jets. The Browns had 11 total picks in two years and three of them were first-round picks. They drafted Barkevious Mingo, Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel with those picks. And they still came away with two players worth signing for the long haul, two quality players who contribute at a pretty high level. 

That's how truly awful the Jets' pair of drafts in 2013 and 2014 really were, and it's precisely why the Jets roster right now is so devoid of talent.