Getty Former Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Duane Brown walking out of the tunnel.
With linebacker Kwon Alexander officially in the fold, the last big move this offseason for the New York Jets is securing a veteran offensive tackle.
Options are dwindling on the open market but one insider believes Gang Green could make one more big swing at the plate.
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Some Interesting Chatter
On Friday, July 29 Heavy senior NFL reporter Matt Lombardo dove into his first mailbag to answer a variety of questions from around the league.
In the Jets subsection, he said “it wouldn’t be surprising” to see the team try to “make a run at a veteran both as a potential starter or at least a quality depth addition.”
Especially after the news broke that Mekhi Becton will be flipping over to right tackle for the foreseeable future.
#Jets HC Robert Saleh says ‘I think we all recognize that’ OT Mekhi Becton (@BigTicket73) ‘is pretty damn good’ & added that we have a ‘pretty damn good’ OL + then stated there’s no competition: Mekhi is RT & George Fant (@GeorgeFant74) is LT: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight #JetsCamp
In league conversations, a name that has come up with the Jets as a “possible ideal fit” according to Lombardo is offensive tackle, Duane Brown.
Brown is an accomplished NFL player with three All-Pro nods to his name to go along with five Pro Bowl nominations. Over the last 14 years, he has developed a reputation for being one of the best offensive tackles in football.
Lombardo believes the 36-year-old (who will turn 37 prior to the start of the 2022 season) “would bring much needed veteran leadership” and help keep a young Zach Wilson upright in 2022.
Enough in the Piggy Bank
When Alexander initially signed most analysts thought it would be for a pretty significant chunk of change. However, it was anything but.
Connor Hughes shared the pertinent financial details on Twitter:
- One-year-deal
- $1.12 million in total value
- $152,500 signing bonus
With the money being so insignificant, Joe Blewett of Jets X-Factor said there is still “plenty of room left to sign an OT.”
This leads us back to the Brown conversation.
He won’t come cheap, but as they say, you get what you pay for. Brown has played and started in over 203 games during his long career.
That kind of stability would be a welcomed addition whether that came as depth insurance or as a starter.
When the Jets signed Morgan Moses last year it was on a one-year deal that featured a $3.6 million base. It included playing time incentives that rose that price tag to $5.3 million if he played 80 percent or more of the snaps.
The #Jets are giving new OT Morgan Moses a 1-year deal worth $3.6M base, source said. Moses can get to $5.3M with 80% or more playing time incentives. A really solid signing, locking in a starter in June.
Spoiler alert he ended up playing in 94 percent of the snaps, per Pro Football Reference.
That’s because of an unfortunate injury in Week 1 to Becton. That forced the Jets to play musical chairs shifting George Fant to the left side and Moses came off the bench.
Gang Green would’ve been screwed if they didn’t have Moses waiting in the wings last year. The Jets need to take the same precautions this year with a developing quarterback residing behind that offensive line.
Brown is still sitting out there in free agency, but a player with his track record and reputation won’t last much longer.
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