Jets insider sheds light on Alijah Vera-Tucker's future in New York

The New York Jets' offensive line has emerged as the true strength of the roster in what has been an otherwise challenging season for the organization. The unit's success in 2025 is even more encouraging when you consider the fact that this wasn't even supposed to be their starting five.

Projected starting right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker suffered a torn triceps just before the start of the regular season, sidelining him for the entirety of 2025. The Jets quickly slid Joe Tippmann over to guard with Josh Myers stepping in at center, and the offensive line has managed to hold up.

Vera-Tucker was once viewed as an obvious building block of the Jets' roster and a staple of the offensive line, but repeated injury woes have derailed his career. Now, the former USC star faces an uncertain future as he's set to be a free agent in the offseason.

There is at least a little hope that the Jets might look to bring him back, however. ESPN's Rich Cimini reported on Sunday that "the Jets are interested in retaining Vera-Tucker," although it will likely depend on his market.

The Jets are interested in re-signing Alijah Vera-Tucker this offseason

The Jets have three offensive linemen already locked into starting jobs in 2026: left tackle Olu Fashanu, right tackle Armand Membou, and right guard Joe Tippmann. That young trio gives the Jets an outstanding foundation to build around up front.

The assumption is that Tippmann will stay at right guard moving forward, with the former second-round pick in the midst of the best season of his career. The Jets also re-signed Josh Myers to a team-friendly two-year, $11 million extension this month.

His contract gives the Jets a capable low-end, starting-caliber center, but it doesn't preclude the team from bringing in competition either via free agency or the 2026 NFL Draft. Either way, Myers figures to factor into the team's 2026 plans.

The real question mark is that fifth starting spot. Left guard John Simpson is also a free agent, and it's unlikely the Jets will bring back both him and Vera-Tucker. That leaves the front office to decide between the two.

Simpson is the safer option given Vera-Tucker’s injury history, but the former Raiders fourth-round pick has arguably been the Jets’ weakest link on the offensive line this season. Simpson leads the team with a whopping 12 penalties in 15 games.

He's regressed significantly from his breakout 2024 season, and while he's still a low-end starting option, the Jets ideally don't want to have two weak links in their starting five with him and Myers. There's a very good argument in favor of bringing back Vera-Tucker.

The issue, of course, is his injury history. Vera-Tucker has played seven or fewer games in three of his five NFL seasons. He’s torn the triceps in both arms and suffered a torn Achilles that limited him to just five games in 2023.

The silver lining is that none of Vera-Tucker’s injuries have been recurring or chronic. This isn’t a Mekhi Becton–type situation where the issues stemmed from the same problem over and over. It’s easier to chalk Vera-Tucker’s injury history up to bad luck rather than a troubling long-term trend.

These are the discussions the Jets will be forced to have in the coming months. How do they weigh availability versus upside? Injury-proneness versus bad luck? At the very least, the Jets appear to have interest in bringing Vera-Tucker back.