Potential free agency target for Pats wants nearly $20m/year?
Taylor might be the perfect case of supply and demand. When the supply of something is low and the demand is high, the price rockets up. Well, in this coming free agency period, the tackle market looks quite poor.
Both Jack Conklin and Elgton Jenkins were given extensions a while ago, taking them off of the market. The top player at tackle in the coming free agency is Jawaan Taylor, a second round draft pick back in 2019 who has played in and started every possible game of his career.
He was nothing special during his first three seasons in the NFL, but did come on quite a bit in year four and has turned into a solid right tackle.
Well, the Pats just might need not one, but two new tackles, and given that I think the team will be aggressive this offseason, I’d think that the Patriots could be big spenders in free agency.
According to Jeremy Fowler, there are some teams who think that Taylor could command somewhere between $17-$18 million per year in a contract in free agency.
He’s still just 25 years old, so any team who signs Taylor would be getting a young player and potential long-term option, but if this is the amount of money he is seeking, should the Pats pay him?
My gut tells me no; this just seems like way too much for a tackle who is largely just about average at what he does. He has shown durability and can hold his own, but that type of money is given to elite right tackles or even above average left tackles.
I’m not sure that Jawaan Taylor’s reported demands would match up with a decision that Bill Belichick could make.