Jets Miss Out on Perfect Opportunity to Bolster OL Depth Before Preseason

The Jets are getting into the thick of training camp as their preseason opener against the Buccaneers quickly approaches on Friday.

While much of the focus at this point is on settling some position battles and narrowing down the roster to 53 players, it is also not the worst time to pivot to free agency when an opportunity presents itself.

Although offensive tackle and 2024 third-round pick Caedan Wallace made perfect sense after the Patriots released him on Monday, it did not take long for the Dolphins to acquire him in a trade along with a 2029 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round pick, per ESPN reporter Mike Reiss.

Trade!

The Patriots announce that G Caedan Wallace has been traded to the Dolphins along with a 2029 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round pick.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 10, 2026

The 26-year-old entered training camp as a backup before getting demoted to third-stringer. Prior to that, he appeared in six games and made two starts in an injury-riddled rookie season before making the move from tackle to guard ahead of his sophomore season, which included four more games.

Potential Caedan Wallace addition slips past Jets

With that said, he could have been the depth piece the Jets needed on the offensive line, especially if you consider the struggles that Max Mitchell, the current backup at left tackle, had last season with a 27.8 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus in 19 opportunities. Outside of 2024, he has not been a great blocker, and the competition from Wallace could have either lit a fire under him or gotten something out of Mitchell.

As someone who was moved to guard last season with the Patriots, Wallace could have given the Jets more depth and versatility if things worked out differently. While the Jets have strengthened their OL in recent years with fellow first-round picks Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou, the depth behind them centers more around players who are still trying to prove themselves.

From Mitchell and Chukwuma Okorafor to the addition of undrafted free agents Courtland Ford and Xavier Hill, the potential signing of Wallace would have added more competition to the position when you factor in his unproven career up to this point as well.

The Jets ultimately re-signed Mitchell to a one-year, $2 million deal earlier this offseason. He has 17 career starts with the franchise, but the No. 111 pick in the 2022 draft has failed to deliver with nine sacks allowed and 28 hurries across 568 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF.

Max Mitchell no helmet. — The Jets need Max Mitchell to step up—especially as he plays out the 2026 season on a one-year contract. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With only one year on his deal, it is entirely possible that the Jets give up on Mitchell if the struggles persist. Not to mention, Wallace still has two years remaining on his rookie deal, and the Jets are in the top half of the league in cap space ($27.3 million, 11th), according to OverTheCap, so it would not have taken much to cut Wallace if everything went south anyway.

Furthermore, Wallace ended up with another AFC East franchise, and it would not have been a tall task for Gang Green to acquire him, considering the low price the Dolphins got for him. There is also some familiarity with Fashanu after the two were teammates at Penn State, which is just one more sign of the missed opportunity the Jets had here to increase the competition on the OL and potentially create a spark that otherwise has been missing from the depth pieces.

Instead, Wallace finds himself elsewhere in the division, and the Jets head into the preseason slate after squandering an opportunity to add to their OL depth. Facing the Dolphins twice per season, though, it won't take long to find out if the Jets were right to avoid making a trade offer to the Patriots.

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