The offensive line will be one of Joe Douglas’ biggest priorities this offseason.
Sam Darnold played under duress for most of the season and rarely seemed to have the time in the pocket to find his receivers. Now that Douglas finally has control of the roster, he’ll look to upgrade the entire offensive line in the hopes of preventing what happened in 2019.
Starting right tackle Brandon Shell is an impending free agent, and all signs point to the Jets letting him walk after a disappointing 2019 season. Shell started 11 games this past season, but only because the Jets were forced to play him with so many injuries along the line. The Jets need a better tackle, and if they aren’t planning on taking one with the 11th pick in Aprils’ draft, they should look to sign at least one this offseason to shore up the right side of the line.
Here are six right tackle options for the Jets in free agency.
Jack Conklin
If the Jets want an immediate infusion of talent at the right tackle position, Jack Conklin is the move. He’s one of the youngest right tackles in free agency at 26 years old and his 78.3 overall Pro Football Focus grade finished 12th among tackles in 2019.
Conklin played a major role in the Titans’ ability to run the ball well this past season. He finished with the fifth-highest run-blocking grade – 81.0 – of all tackles, the sixth-best tackle on zone runs and 14th on gap runs, per PFF, and Derrick Henry ended up leading the league in rushing. A major concern for Conklin is his pass-protection, though. His pass-blocking grade ranks 49th over the past two seasons and the Titans allowed the third-most sacks in the NFL in 2019, which is more than the Jets even allowed.
The Jets need their big free agency splashes to protect Darnold and can’t afford to spend big on a poor pass blocker. However, Conklin could command one of the biggest salaries on the offensive line. Spotrac put his market value at a six-year, $90.1 million contract, which would pay him $15 million a year. That would put him third among right tackles, so it’s conceivable he would ask to top that list above Lane Johnson and Trent Brown.
Bryan Bulaga
Bulaga has been a figurehead on the Green Bay Packers offensive line for the past nine seasons, but there’s a chance they let him walk depending on his contract demands and injury history. Bulaga has the experience – 111 starts – and the 15th-highest PFF grade in 2019 – 77.1 – but he’s also missed significant time throughout his career and will turn 31 this offseason. He played in 16 regular-season games for the first time since 2016 this past season, something he’s only done twice in his career.
Still, Bulaga is a veteran who could bring a huge boost to the Jets offensive line. His play with a legend like Aaron Rodgers could help him work with Sam Darnold and the rest of the Jets offense. Remember Alan Faneca and Damien Woody? The Jets signed both linemen in their early-30s and both immediately turned the line into one of the best in the league in 2008.
Bulaga is a high-risk, high-reward signing only because of his injury history. If he can stay as healthy as he was in 2019, he’d be a slam-dunk signing this offseason. His market value is only a three-year, $30.5 million contract, per Spotrac, but he could easily ask for closer to Lane Johnson’s four-year, $72 million contract he signed in 2019.
Matt Feiler
Who, you may be asking, is Matt Feiler? He might just be the most underrated right tackle on the market. He’s a 6-foot-6, 330-pound tackle who finished 2019 with a 75.2 PFF grade – the fifth-highest grade among all right tackles. The 27-year-old became one of the best pass-blockers in the league after he started all 16 games for the Steelers this season. Feiler ranked third in pass-protection behind only Ryan Ramczyk and Mitchell Schwartz – two of the best in the league.
The Steelers always produce a great offensive line, and 2019 was no exception. Feiler was part of the unit that allowed the ninth-fewest sacks in the league for a Steelers team somehow within a few games of the playoffs despite losing most of their offensive weapons like Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.
Feiler has been durable over the past two seasons, but the worry with him is experience and consistency. He went undrafted out of Division II Bloomberg University in 2014 and spent his first four seasons on the practice squad for the Texans and Steelers before starting nine of the Steelers’ last 10 games in 2018. He’d be a risky signing but could be a cheaper option for the Jets if they whiff on or are unwilling to pay the top-tier tackles like Conklin and Bulaga.
Daryl Williams
Williams played in all 16 games for the Panthers in 2019, a year after suffering a major knee injury that forced him to miss all but one game of the 2018 season. He proved to be a versatile lineman for the Panthers after switching from right tackle to guard but struggled once the move was made and allowed an abysmal 12 sacks this past season.
Williams has potential. He’s only 27 and was a second-team All-Pro in 2017 before he injured his knee. With another year of experience under his belt, he could be primed to return to his 2017 form, but the Jets shouldn’t break the bank for Williams.
Demar Dotson
Though he’s older than the rest of the candidates on this like, Dotson would provide the Jets with a solid veteran leader to build around their line, especially if they draft multiple linemen in April. The 6-foot-9, 315-pound Dotson has 10 years of NFL experience under his belt at age 34, all with the Buccaneers.
His best days are certainly behind him, but Dotson won’t cost much and could be more of a mentor type for the Jets He also finished with a solid 71.0 PFF grade on one of the most pass-heavy teams in the league last year. A year after the Jets brought in 34-year-old Ryan Kalil to stabilize the line, but failed, signing a short-term solution like Dotson might be hard to do given his wear and tear.
LaAdrian Waddle
Waddle would be another low-risk option given he’s coming off a torn quad that ended his 2019 season before it even began. Waddle has 31 starts in 61 career games since entering the league with the Lions in 2013. He won’t be the staple of the line, but Waddle could provide a solid presence if he’s truly fully recovered from his season-ending injury.
He’d be another cheap option for the Jets if they don’t sign a big-name free agent or grab a tackle in the draft. At worst, he could be a solid backup option for a Jets line that couldn’t stay healthy this past season.
