Around Vera-Tucker, Douglas plans to spend a portion of the offseason trying to fill other starting voids left behind by free agents. It was reported Monday night that the team plans to release LG Laken Tomlinson, making seven of the 14 offensive linemen who took snaps for the Jets in the 2023 season free agents, including starting T Mekhi Becton, who took the third-most snaps on the team and second-most among the OL.
“There were a number of tough conversations,” Douglas said about releasing Tomlinson. “But ultimately, we felt that was the best decision we needed to make this offseason financially. We aren’t going to shut the door on Laken or any other free agent, but it was just the right time to make that decision and get our ducks in a row for free agency.”
With promising young C Joe Tippmann, who made 14 starts as a rookie (4 at guard, 10 at center), the Jets will likely have three starting positions to fill. Douglas said he feels good about the soon-to-be available free agents and draft prospects that could help fill in the gaps.
“It’s a lot of moving pieces, but at the same time, we just had some unbelievable meetings with our coaching staff, free agent meetings,” Douglas said. “There are three different avenues that we can do this, right? Trade, free agency and draft. Going through where we are, the flexibility, going through the meetings that we just went through, the flexibility of AVT, I feel like there’s some guys that could come in and be the right type of fit for us in terms of intelligence, toughness, reliability. There’s some good candidates out there that can come in and help us.”
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