Getty
Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jack Conklin getting ready ahead of an NFL game.
The New York Jets have a hole in the starting offensive line with Morgan Moses set to be a free agent.
Jets analyst Matt O’Leary proposed a trade that would fill that void by acquiring Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Jack Conklin.
“So they do some sort of day-three pick swap. You are trading one of your two sixth-round picks,” O’Leary explained.
Conklin has two years remaining on the $60 million contract he signed with the Browns.
Conklin Would Be a Quality Replacement for the Jets O-Line
Conklin, 30, entered the NFL as the No. 8 overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.
The 6-foot-6, 308-pound hog molly spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans. Most recently he has spent the last five seasons with the Browns.
Conklin has appeared in and started 106 games in his career at the professional level. The former Michigan State product is a two-time first-team All-Pro. He has exclusively played the right tackle position outside of very few rare exceptions in his first two seasons when he got 77 snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
The veteran tackle has dealt with injury issues since joining the Browns back in 2020. Over those five years, Conklin has missed a total of 35 games. Conklin has dealt with a torn patellar tendon, a torn ACL, a torn MCL, a torn PCL, and meniscus damage.
This past season he bounced back starting in 12 of 17 games in 2024.
Jets Need to Find a New Solution at Right Tackle
NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY recently revealed that Moses “isn’t expected to return” to the Jets in 2025. The veteran offensive tackle is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
Putting Moses aside, the Jets’ other four starters on the offensive line are all set to return next season. Olu Fashanu at left tackle, John Simpson at left guard, Joe Tippmann at center, and Alijah Vera-Tucker at right guard.
The only piece missing is right tackle and some reliable depth.
Even if the Jets acquire a guy like Conklin, that can’t be the only part of the plan. It is well documented that Conklin has battled the injury bug as of late. The Jets need to have a backup plan ready.
To be blunt, Max Mitchell and Carter Warren just haven’t gotten the job done when called upon.
The most optimal path for the Jets moving forward is to find a veteran option to plug in for the short term. Then a month later in the 2025 NFL draft find a right tackle in the mid-rounds to develop behind the scenes to be the long-term solution.
Other teams in the NFL routinely develop players they drafted and then when they are forced to start years down the road they are ready for such an opportunity. The Jets have routinely drafted so poorly that the depth has eroded on the team leaving the squad vulnerable to the injury bug.
Conklin is a proven player when healthy he can deliver. Considering the trade price, this is a tire worth kicking if you’re the Jets.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts Cumulus Media’s morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
