Left tackle George Fant was one of a few bright spots for the Jets in 2021, and he is in line for a significant role on the team this season. When speaking to the media yesterday, he provided updates on his health and contract statuses, among other things. 
The 29-year-old said that he is “doing well” with respect to his recovery from offseason knee surgery (Twitter link via SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano). He added that he will be recovered in time for training camp. Assuming that is the case, he will be available to continue as a starter, looking to build off his surprising level of play at left tackle last season. Between himself, Mekhi Becton and any lineman the team selects early in the upcoming draft, the Jets will have a number of options to fill out the tackle positions.
Given his high-end play in 2021 (he allowed only 18 pressures in 15 games, ranking him third in the league), Fant was reportedly in conversation with the Jets over a new contract last month. While nothing much as materialized since then, he did say his agent “has had some talks” with the team regarding a new deal. Fant has one year remaining on his current contract, with a scheduled cap hit of $11.1MM.
Further remarks Fant made, per Vacchiano, related to the current state of the Jets’ o-line. While the team lost Morgan Moses in free agency, they did add Pro Bowl guard Laken Tomlinson. He, along with 2021 first-rounder Alijah Vera-Tucker, figure to give the team an improved tandem at guard. Fant acknowledged the possibility of an addition as early as Round 1 tonight along the offensive front, but expressed confidence in the unit as-is, something which may be justified if, among other things, he can replicate his 2021 success.
I agree, which is why I don’t think they should use early first round picks on the o-line. If Tyler Linderbaum falls to them at 35, that could be a good pickup.
OL is becoming increasingly expensive. Would be smart cap wise to draft someone with a 5th yr option available. Either move back into the end of the 1st or take one at 4 or 10.
Cap wise, drafting WR, OL, and DE seems to be the way to stretch your money. And then you have to be willing to move on. Paying a QB is inevitable if he’s worth anything, but they need to learn from past and others mistakes on the 5th yr option.
Fant would have been nice to keep and let him play LG or RT. He did well converting to a T from TE. He was better than the OL we drafted in the 1st rnd under Pete. Good Luck to him.