Jets, Giants throw shade at each other on Twitter over 2018 draft

The decisive moment in the 2018 draft may have been the New York Giants’ decision to pass on Sam Darnold in favor of Saquon Barkley, leading to a hilarious Twitter exchange with the New York Jets today.

The NFL Draft is going to be getting underway in just a bit, but it may be hard for this year’s edition to top the drama of 2018 when a slew of quarterbacks went inside the top 10 picks.

The kingmakers of that draft were the New York Giants, who strangely passed on an heir for Eli Manning in order to take running back Saquon Barkley.

That decision enabled the Giants’ cross-town rivals, the New York Jets, to potentially solve their endless search for a franchise quarterback by drafting Sam Darnold. Darnold looked the part of a future franchise guy at the end of the season, a fact that the Jets decided to have a little fun with on Twitter this afternoon.

This is clear shade towards the Giants, who have been linked to nearly every quarterback in this year’s draft, which isn’t nearly as highly regarded as last year’s crop. The Giants took the zing in stride, however, firing back with a clever tweet of their own.

For those who didn’t catch the significance of the photo, it features Barkley holding up the trophy he won as the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2018. Barkley was outstanding for the Giants last season, rushing for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding 91 catches for 721 yards and four more scores for good measure.

This good-natured ribbing is always fun to see, but the fact of the matter is that this debate over whether or not the Giants or Jets won out with this choice is still years away from being resolved. The Giants can justify passing on Darnold if they can find their next franchise quarterback soon, potentially pairing him with Barkley to form the nucleus of their next championship contender.

If the quest to find Manning’s successor takes longer, the Jets may end up with the last laugh after all.