By Jeff Howe, Zack Rosenblatt and Jeff Zrebiec
The New York Jets are acquiring tackle Morgan Moses from the Baltimore Ravens, team sources confirmed to The Athletic.
The Jets are receiving Moses and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft in exchange for a fourth- and sixth-round pick.
Moses, 33, has spent the past two season with the Ravens starting 31 out of a possible 34 games. He spent one season with the Jets in 2021 and appeared in all 17 games that season, starting 16.
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Moses comes to the Jets alongside another Ravens offensive lineman in left guard John Simpson, who agreed to a two-year deal to join the Jets at the start of free agency.
Moses, a veteran tackle, was a third-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders. He spent seven seasons with Washington and started every game in his last six with the franchise.
Why the Jets made the move
Jets general manager Joe Douglas would probably admit now that he never should’ve let Moses walk in free agency after a solid season as New York’s starting right tackle in 2021 — especially looking back now at how much of a mess the Jets have been at the tackle position in 2022 and 2023.
In two years with the Ravens, Pro Football Focus ranked Moses 12th overall among offensive tackles to play 500 snaps in 2022, and 15th in 2023 — and 10th in run blocking this past season. Moses is on the older side (33) but remains a solid right tackle and should provide a massive upgrade over the collection of players the Jets played at the position last year.
Mekhi Becton opened last season at right tackle and moved to left tackle when Duane Brown got injured. Alijah Vera-Tucker moved from guard to right tackle, then suffered a season-ending injury. The rest of the way, the Jets shuffled through Max Mitchell, Billy Turner and rookie Carter Warren at right tackle, all grading as some of the worst tackles in the league by PFF’s grading.
The trade should be viewed as a home run for Douglas, who had mostly been quiet to start free agency and in this deal only had to move back in the fourth round and give up a sixth-round pick in order to acquire a solid starting offensive linemen at a low cost. Moses is only set to earn $5.5 million for the Jets in the final year of his contract.
With Simpson, this locks in four starters on the Jets offensive line: Moses, Simpson, center Joe Tippmann and Vera-Tucker, who can play guard or tackle.
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The expectation is that the Jets will draft an offensive tackle with their first-round pick, No. 10, but don’t rule out the possibility that they pursue former Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari in free agency as well. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets beat writer
Why the Ravens made the move
Ravens decision makers made clear that they viewed solidifying the offensive line as one of their offseason priorities. They wanted to get younger and more athletic upfront. Moses played well for the Ravens over the past two seasons, but he’s just turned 33 and he battled through an arm/shoulder injury for much of last season. Moving on from him should allow the Ravens to get a bit younger upfront and it also creates much-needed $5.5 million of salary cap savings. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer
What the move foreshadows for the Ravens’ draft
The trade of Moses, along with Simpson leaving in free agency and starting right guard Kevin Zeitler potentially signing elsewhere, further confirms that it will likely be an offensive-line heavy draft for the Ravens. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley is returning after he agreed to take a pay cut and center Tyler Linderbaum is already one of the best centers in football. However, the Ravens, as of now, need to fill as many as three starting spots upfront. They have some internal options. Veteran swing tackle Patrick Mekari has mostly played well when he’s started. The Ravens used a fourth-round pick on offensive tackle Daniel Faalele two years ago. They also have young drafted guards Ben Cleveland, Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and Andrew Vorhees on the roster.
It’s possible that one or two replacements will come from the guys already on their roster, but general manager Eric DeCosta has a lot of work to do. —Zrebiec
Required reading
- 2024 NFL free agency rankings: Brian Burns, Saquon Barkley, Kirk Cousins lead top 150
- NFL free agency rankings 2024: Top 10 players at each position
- NFL beat writer mock draft 2024: Trades shake up top 10 picks and QB landscape
- NFL GMs, execs mock 2024 NFL Draft’s top 10 picks: Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye?
(Photo: Robin Alam / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
