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It seems to be trending in that direction . . .
That Mekhi Becton is going to be the Jets’ right tackle to start the season, with Duane Brown manning the left tackle spot.
Now we all know that Becton would prefer to play left tackle as he pointed out in a highly-publicized tweet on the Saturday during Jets rookie minicamp.
Becton tweeted: “I. AM. A. LEFT. TACKLE!!!”
He ended up deleting the tweet.
And then shortly after that, he was quoted in Newsday blaming the coaches for his knee injury last summer by making him play right tackle coming off a knee injury.
“It made no sense to put me at right tackle,” Becton said. “I hurt my right knee. That’s going to be the knee that I put the most pressure on [while backpedaling in pass protection]. I explained it [to the coaches], but no one cared.”
That quote could not have made the head coach happy since he’s the one who decides who plays where. GM Joe Douglas picks the players, and the head coach decides who plays.
So think about that for a second – a player essentially blamed his head coach for getting him hurt. You don’t see that very often. So while nobody really wrote it was Saleh he was criticizing, who else could it be? Those decisions are in his wheelhouse.
But clearly a big reason Becton wants to play left tackle, aside from perhaps being more comfortable there after playing that position at Lousiville, and then as a rookie with the Jets, is related to money.
He’s in the last year of his contract after the Jets didn’t pick up his fifth-year option.
And over the years, left tackles have made more money than right tackles.
However, the gap isn’t nearly as big as it used to be. Right tackles like Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson, Kansas City’s Jawaan Taylor and New Orlean’s Ryan Ramczyk all have deals that average around $20 million a season.
Yes, there are a few left tackles that make more than that, like Houston’s Laremy Tunsil at $25 million per season, and San Francisco’s Trent Williams and Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari at $23 million, no other left tackle deal is over $20 million, with Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley at $19.8 million, Denver’s Garrett Bolles at $17 million and Cincinnati’s Orlando Brown at $16.
So if Becton has a great year at right tackle, the money he gets next year, from the Jets or elsewhere, to play left or right tackle, might not be that different.
The Jets are saying it will be a competition at both tackle spots.
“I’m excited just to see the competition,” offensive line coach Keith Carter said on June 9. “We’re really excited about both of them. At some point, we are going to have to make a decision about who that left tackle is. The good news is we don’t have to do that right now.”
But it’s hard seeing Brown moving from left tackle to the right side, after playing his entire 16-year NFL career on the left side.
He’s coming off a serious shoulder injury, so if he’s not healthy, Becton could emerge as the left tackle.
However, it’s more than likely it will be Brown at left tackle and Becton at right tackle.
And if Becton is worried about that hurting him in the wallet, he shouldn’t.
The money is more similar at left and right tackle than in the past.
Also, after essentially missing the last two years due to knee issues, Becton really isn’t in a position to dictate Jets’ policy.
He’s just got to go out and show the Jets (and the rest of the league) he can stay healthy and play at a high level.
June 20, 2023
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