Chargers cut ties with recent Jets first-round draft bust

The Los Angeles Chargers are cutting ties with former New York Jets first-round pick Mekhi Becton, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Becton was entering the second year of a two-year $20 million deal he signed with the Chargers just last offseason.

After his disappointing Jets tenure, Becton signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, moving from tackle to guard. He flourished and helped the Eagles win their second Super Bowl as a key member of the offensive front. The former Louisville product earned himself a payday and received it from Los Angeles in free agency last March.

Just one year later, the Chargers are releasing him. He started 14 games and lost some of his magic without legendary Eagles run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland coaching him. The move saved Los Angeles $9.7 million against the cap.

The Jets' massive Mekhi Becton mistake

Becton is one of the more frustrating failed Jets draft picks to look back on. The former No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft had all the talent in the world, but never seemed to be able to put it all together with his conditioning. He showed flashes of greatness as a rookie, but then suffered season-ending injuries in both his second and third seasons in the NFL.

The most maddening part about the Becton pick is who former general manager Joe Douglas passed on to take the Louisville product. Two picks after the Jets selected Becton, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, who's gone on to become a three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler.

It's safe to say New York would be set at one of their tackle spots had Douglas not passed over Wirfs. Douglas, a general manager who always talked about how important it was to build the offensive line, clearly made the wrong pick.

Instead, throughout his tenure in New York, the Jets routinely had to turn to veteran tackles to fill in for their injured first-round pick. George Fant was solid for a year or two, but Duane Brown and Tyron Smith were nothing short of disasters. Each got hurt and missed a lot of games.

Now that the Jets have Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou, those nightmare days are over. But it never fails to frustrate fans looking back and wondering what could've been had Douglas made a different draft pick in one of his first major decisions as the GM in New York.