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It might be the end of the road for this New York Jets former first round pick.
Rich Cimini of ESPN doesn’t expect offensive tackle Mekhi Becton to be back with the team in 2024.
“Mekhi Becton is a free agent. I do not believe he will be back. I think it would be a mutual parting [and] I don’t frankly think he’d wanna come back and I’d think the Jets would probably not want to have him back,” Cimini explained on “The Flight Deck Podcast.”
Becton is in the midst of the last year of his $18 million rookie contract and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
Recapping the Becton Path With the Jets
The 24-year-old originally entered the league as the No. 11 overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Gang Green had hopes that he could be the team’s franchise left tackle for the next decade plus with his rare size and ability. However, his career has been plagued by injuries.
The former Louisville product missed 35 of 50 possible games throughout his first three seasons in the league. That volatility led the Jets to decline the fifth-year option on his contract back in May of 2023.
Although this season the big man has turned it around. Becton has appeared and started in all eight games so far this season.
“The biggest surprise? I’m going with Mekhi Becton for two reasons. One, he’s healthy. We never thought that was going to be the case. I personally thought he wouldn’t even make it through the preseason given his injury history,” Cimini said on his podcast. “He has started in every game, he has played well, he’s had one bad game, and it was against the [New York] Giants, which he admitted. I thought he had a good game against the [Los Angeles] Chargers on Monday night. I would keep him at left tackle, I think he’s having a really good season and so he’s my biggest surprise [through the first half of the season].”
Becton has played snaps at both left and right tackle this season. According to Pro Football Focus’ grading system, he has a 59.7 overall, 69.5 pass block, and a 55.1 run block.
Bold Strategy Cotton
If Cimini is right and the Jets end up moving on from Becton that would be quite the bold decision.
Both of the starting offensive tackles from the beginning of the season, Duane Brown and Becton, are scheduled to be free agents in 2024.
That would be a tall task for the Jets to replace both of those starters in the same offseason on top of whatever other moves they plan on making.
According to Spotrac’s market value projections, Becton could sign a three-year deal in free agency for nearly $39 million.
That $12.9 million average annual salary would make him the No. 17 highest paid left tackle in football. If he were to sign on as a right tackle, that salary would make him the No. 11 highest paid at his position, per Over The Cap.
Becton has made his stance clear that he prefers to play left tackle over right tackle. The blindside protectors make more money and it’s a position he is more comfortable with.
Cimini didn’t explain on his podcast why he believes Becton would want to leave, but the positional debate could be the issue.
Duane Brown hasn’t been healthy enough to return, but when he does, the expectation is he will take the left tackle job. That would force Becton back to the right side where he doesn’t want to play.
If the Jets don’t want to make Becton their permanent left tackle, I’m sure there are plenty of teams in free agency who would with a bag of money to go along with it.
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