The NFL Draft has transformed from a single, fleeting weekend in April to a 12-month, 365-day affair that dominates the football landscape on both the professional and amateur levels. Part of the reason for this evolution is the lasting relationship the draft holds with the concept of “what might’ve been”. Fruitful and ineffectual Sundays in autumn have fans constantly asking questions in spring retrospect.
The New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts will be linked by this bond for the foreseeable future. Two years, five months, and eight days before their Sunday afternoon meet-up at Lucas Oil Stadium, a 36-7 Indianapolis shellacking, the two sides agreed to a trade that altered the selection board of the 2018 NFL Draft.