Jets rookie Kenyon Sadiq admits his biggest fear was getting pranked after seeing Shedeur Sanders’ draft incident. The Jets say the call was real, not a joke.
Kenyon Sadiq didn’t fully relax when the phone rang Thursday night with the Jets calling his name.
Sadiq, the team’s first-round pick at No.. 16 out of Oregon, said his first thought was that it could be a prank—especially after what happened to Shedeur Sanders during last year’s draft.. “That was just my biggest fear,” Sadiq said, referencing the attention around Sanders at the time.. “It’s such a moment full of so many emotions.. It’d be kind of not fun to get a prank call and stuff like that.. But no, obviously the call and everything was amazing.”
The Jets clearly wanted the moment to feel official, not chaotic.. Their social media team shared a video showing Sadiq receiving the call from the team’s war room.. During the conversation, he told coach Aaron Glenn, “I’m excited, Coach,” and added that he briefly wondered if it might be a prank.. Glenn’s response was direct: “No, we’re not pranking you, brother.. You’re going to be a Jet.” He also told Sadiq he had been a target for the team for a while—meaning this wasn’t a last-minute decision dressed up as a surprise.
Sadiq said the fear faded as he moved deeper into the call, speaking with different members of the Jets’ coaching staff and management.. “I mean, it was really just when I started talking to each individual coach and management and those things,” he explained.. “Then it really kind of hit me, ‘This isn’t a prank call, this is the real deal,’ and I was super excited.” For a rookie, those seconds matter.. Draft night is supposed to be the start of a career, not a stress test.
That tension has a clear reason to exist.. Sanders was pranked last year after he fell to the fifth round, and the incident involved Jax Ulbrich, the son of former Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich (now with the Falcons).. The league fined Ulbrich $100,000 and the Falcons $250,000 for the prank.. Even if today’s call was handled differently, the memory of that moment clearly lingered for players who were watching closely.
There’s another layer to what the Jets were balancing: not just adding talent, but managing key conversations that don’t show up on draft highlight reels.. Jets general manager Darren Mougey said he planned to wait until after the draft to engage Breece Hall’s agent on contract extension talks.. The team used the franchise tag on Hall, giving them until July 15 to finalize a longer-term agreement.. If that doesn’t happen, Hall would play the season under the terms of the tag.
Mougey made it clear the Jets intended to handle the process with a measured approach.. “I’ve got a list of things to address next week, that being one of them,” he said.. “I want to have discussions internally and discussions with Breece’s party before saying much more.. But yes, I anticipate turning my attention to Breece and that contract situation.” In practice, that means the Jets’ draft room and their contract room are running on different timelines, and the offseason can’t be treated like one continuous sprint.
On the field, the Jets’ draft choices continued to signal a mix of immediate needs and longer-term bets.. On Day 3, they opened by selecting Darrell Jackson Jr., a defensive tackle from Florida State.. At 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, Jackson is built to clog space and occupy blockers.. But production at the college level was limited, which is exactly why teams like the Jets lean into “potential” at this stage—taking a chance that traits and coaching can unlock better results.
From there, the Jets stayed active across rounds.. They traded up to select quarterback Cade Klubnik in the fourth round, then moved again in the sixth round to take Miami guard Anez Cooper.. The trade involved the Seahawks, sending a sixth-round pick (199) and a seventh-round pick (242) to reach pick 188.. Cooper was a three-year starter at Miami and adds depth inside, where interior play can be the difference between moving the pocket cleanly on defense and protecting the quarterback consistently on offense.. The Jets also tabbed safety VJ Payne from Kansas State with their final selection of the draft in the seventh round.
What ties the whole draft night together is the emotional contrast—prank fears on one end, businesslike roster building on the other.. For Sadiq, the experience was supposed to be a milestone, and the Jets worked to make sure it felt real.. For the team, the call was only one part of a bigger balancing act: adding players while still preparing for major decisions like Hall’s extension.. If anything, the message from Misryoum to players and fans alike is simple—draft day can be dramatic, but the Jets are treating it as the first step in a season-long plan, not a one-night show.