By PFW staff
March 1, 2008

Not long after the Jets worked out a trade with the Panthers to bring DT Kris Jenkins aboard, they agreed to terms with Pittsburgh free-agent OG Alan Faneca to bolster their line on the offensive side. The deal is reportedly for five years and $40 million, with $21 million guaranteed — the $8 million annual average and the guaranteed money are records for an offensive lineman.

The seven-time Pro Bowler will step into the OLG position that was vacated earlier this week with the release of Adrien Clarke. Faneca had spent his entire 10-year career as a Steeler.

The PFW spin

The seeds of this acquisition were sewn last offseason, when the Jets strong-armed OLG Pete Kendall. Kendall, like Faneca, was a long-tenured, respected veteran. But when he persisted about wanting a $1 million raise from his $1.7 million salary, the Jets first balked, then cut him. Partly because of Kendall’s absence, the Jets featured a porous offensive line in 2007, with the OLG spot being particularly problematic. Neither Clarke nor Will Montgomery proved a capable player in the role.

Faneca was widely considered the top offensive guard in unrestricted free agency, and he should significantly bolster a running game that ranked 19th in the league in 2007. He’ll be flanked by OLT D’Brickashaw Ferguson and C Nick Mangold, two recent first-round picks who had moments of greatness but have mostly underwhelmed in their professional careers thus far. The Jets believe that ORG Brandon Moore holds considerable promise, hence inking him to an extension last season, meaning the ORT spot currently manned by the uninspiring Anthony Clement is the last O-line position in need of a new body.