Ja'Sir Taylor was a legitimate cut candidate for the LA Chargers at the end of the 2025 preseason. Now, just months later, the Chargers managed to receive draft capital by trading the 2022 sixth-round pick to the New York Jets.
It may not be prominent draft capital, but it's draft capital nonetheless. The Jets are trading a conditional 2028 seventh-round pick to the Chargers for Taylor's services. It's unclear what the conditions are.
Taylor has played virtually no role on the Chargers' defense this season, so it's shocking to see the Jets trade future draft capital for a cornerback after dealing Sauce Gardner hours earlier. But some how, some way, general manager Joe Hortiz added draft capital to his war chest for the unlikliest of players.
Chargers some how find a way to trade Ja'Sir Taylor to Jets
Making this trade even more improbable (or more impressive if you look at it from the Chargers' point of view) is the fact that Taylor is a free agent after this season. The Chargers traded half a season of a player who undoubtedly wasn't going to return in 2026 for a future draft pick.
It doesn't matter that the pick is a seventh-round pick three years from now. The Chargers weren't going to get a compensatory pick for Taylor leaving anyway, so the fact they got anything is a masterclass by Hortiz.
It also highlights why this trade doesn't make much sense for the Jets. Why trade any draft capital at all for a player who might spend two months on the team, especially when that player has struggled in the NFL? New York essentially gave away a future draft pick for a player who probably belongs on the practice squad.
The Chargers' secondary is currently banged up, yet Taylor still had no real role on the team. He's played just 16 total defensive snaps this season, all of which came in Week 8 against the Miami Dolphins.
That only highlights how inconsequential Taylor is.
There's no way the Chargers were outright shopping him as Hortiz couldn't have expected to actually get anything for him. The interest clearly came from the Jets' side of things. Why that interest existed is the big mystery.