Right tackle will be one of this year’s top positional markets to monitor. One of the best players set to hit the market, Jawaan Taylor, is expected to do very well. The Jaguars blocker may move into position to command a deal worth at least $17MM on average, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. The Jaguars used their franchise tag on Evan Engram, with that cost being $7MM cheaper than the O-line tag, but they are attempting to bring back Taylor. The former second-rounder has never missed a start as a pro and has earned plus grades for his pass protection. Although Pro Football Focus viewed Taylor as one of the league’s worst run-blockers last season, the advanced metrics site rates him as the eighth-best pass-protecting right tackle over the past two years.
The Jags already have Cam Robinson tied to a top-10 deal at left tackle, which will make keeping Taylor difficult. A deal at $17MM AAV would move Taylor into the top five at the position. Here is the latest from the O-line ranks:
- Another of the top right-siders set to be hit the market, Mike McGlinchey is not expected to return to the 49ers. The Bears would be in position to outmuscle other suitors for the five-year starter’s services, holding a near-$30MM lead in cap space (at $94.7MM). McGlinchey should be expected to join Taylor on a deal north of $17MM per year, per Adam Jahns of The Athletic (subscription required). Kaleb McGary could profile as a slightly cheaper alternative, per Jahns, who notes Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan was the Falcons’ O-line coach when they drafted the Michigan product in the 2019 first round. The Bears have gone through a few options at right tackle since releasing Bobby Massie in 2021. This represents a good year for the team to address the position.
- Excepting their 2017 Stephon Gilmore payment and the 2021 spending frenzy, the Patriots are not known for deep dives into free agency pools. But they also look set to investigate the right tackle market. New England is seeking an upgrade here, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes, pointing out that the team is content on the interior (with center David Andrews and guards Michael Onwenu and Cole Strange). Trent Brown is still under contract on the left side. Beyond the top three RTs, Trey Pipkins, Kelvin Beachum and Andrew Wylie are ticketed for free agency. Isaiah Wynn is not expected back in New England, which is not exactly a surprise given his dismal contract year. The Pats hold more than $32MM in cap space, giving them some capital to use at this need area.
- Currently carrying a $32.4MM Lamar Jackson franchise tag on their cap sheet, the Ravens should not be expected to retain their top free agent (now that Jackson is tagged). Ben Powers‘ quality contract year should lead to his Baltimore departure, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic writes. Powers needed to win a left guard competition in training camp. Upon doing so, the former fourth-round pick proceeded to rank in the top 10 in run and pass block win rates, per ESPN. Powers, 26, will be one of the best guards available next week. The Ravens’ Jackson tag has them $9MM over the cap as of Wednesday afternoon.
- USC tackle prospect Andrew Vorhees suffered a torn ACL while doing drills at the Combine, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. While Vorhees still managed to perform 38 reps in the bench press after the injury, this setback will undoubtedly hurt the top-100 prospect’s draft stock.
Losing their best free agent makes no difference as the Ravens have no chance of competing for the AFC title, as that conference contains too many quality quarterbacks, most of whom play 16 or 17 games a year, unlike the Baltimore running back. The Ravens should be praying that some greedy owner forces his GM to cough up those 2 first rounders and $40+ million/yr guaranteed contract, as drafting at #17 for the next 5 years is no way to go through life.
God forbid they commit Daniel Jones money to only have the 5th or 6th best quarterback in the stronger conference.
Yeah cause Pickett, Watson, Mac Jones, Tua, Malik Willis, Davis Mills, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, and Stidham are better than Lamar? Literally only Mahomes is clearly better, and you can make an argument for Burrow, Herbert, Allen, and Lawrence. And the only one that’s actually a good argument is Burrow.
It is ironic that Jawaan Taylor is now seen as an elite pass blocker and a poor run blocker, given his mauler tape coming out of Florida. His player profile has shifted considerably, and where he once was considered disappointing due to his run struggles, he has repaired his reputation in the passing game. Good for Taylor, and possibly expensive for the Jaguars.
As for the Bears, it is true that their tackle situation has been a roller coaster for some time, but that began prior to Massie’s departure. Maddie was not exactly a top ten tackle himself, though he was far from the worst that Chicago fielded in the last decade. It has been some time since the Bears have had top level talent at that position.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bears sign Brown and move the kid who played LT last season (made the all rookie team), to RT and after trading back, take Skoronski or Campbell to replace Whitehair, Patrick may or may not be the center. He may be a back up. If they improve center (they have to), they’ll have the makings of a much better line than they’ve had in years.
Unfortunately that won’t be an extremely difficult measure to accomplish. I’m not familiar enough with their current regime to make any solid predictions, but Fields’ abilities as a runner and the somewhat frequent occurrence of him holding the ball complicates matters for blockers. The Bears will need good athletic and agile talent on the line, in my mind, to make it work. Thanks for the insight, I’ll pay attention to see what happens.
Sometimes you have to hold the ball a bit longer to let your group of pass catchers, led by No. 1 WR Dante Pettis, get open.
Good, quick and athletic linemen are what Poles said he wants so we’ll see what happens. I think he has a plan and with all that cap space and additional picks from a trade down (or two?), they should be much better. I still think with so many holes to fill, it’s gonna be ‘24 before they’re serious contenders.
This. Braxton Jones is the LT now. Moving him to RT while adding Brown and Skoronski/Johnson in the draft would be key.
Hopefully grab a WR and DL in round 2. A good C will be available in round 3 as well… so might as well keep adding to the line then.
Braxton Jones should play RT. They need a LT. Rather than pay a RT big money when you already have one they should trade back twice in the 1st rd to 4 then 9 and then take Paris Johnson. Two good cheap T’s for years. O Line needs to be built from the T’s in. Then take the extra picks and get a WR and defense. Jones got run over a lot at LT. You really don’t need that. RT has the TE over him a lot and would give him help while he builds up his lower half.
With an athletic QB who frequently plays on the edge of the pocket, I would agree that athletic tackles would be important. I would assume that, as a right handed QB, Fields would primarily roll to his right when moving out of the pocket. I would agree, if so, that a quality right tackle that can move well laterally would be beneficial.
What a beast. Guy tears his ACL and just casually rips off 38 reps on the bench lmao rooting for this dude
Hopefully other college players will boycott this pointless NFL money grab event after seeing how their draft value can be jeopardized without any compensation.
The Bears should be looking at quantity over quality in the free agent market – as they have holes all over the field and plugging a couple of them with expensive pieces that aren’t enough to offset the rest of the team’s flaws seems like a bad approach – except for the guys who got the big contracts.