Free Agency 2020: Bulaga Part of Thirtysomething Tackle Candidates

Anthony Castonzo, Jack Conklin, Andrew Whitworth and Bryan Bulaga are the four top offensive tackles.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Depending on the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement, NFL free agency will begin on March 18 and the so-called legal-tampering period – when teams can officially begin negotiations with free agents – is March 16. With that, here is our preview of the top 10 free-agent offensive tackles. (Age at the start of the new league-year is in parentheses.)

FIRST, THE PACKERS’ OUTLOOK

Of Green Bay’s 14 unrestricted free agents, three are offensive tackles: Bryan Bulaga, Jared Veldheer and Jason Spriggs. Moreover, left tackle David Bakhtiari is entering his final season under contract.

Bulaga started all 16 games for the first time in his 10-year tenure. Facing perhaps the best slate of pass rushers in his career, Bulaga was excellent. Of 57 offensive tackles to play at least 50 percent of his team’s offensive snaps, Bulaga ranked 17th in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-protection metric, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-protecting snap. How important is Bulaga? In 10 seasons, he’s played 950-plus snaps four times. In 2010, the Packers won the Super Bowl. In 2014, 2016 and 2019, they reached NFC Championship Games.

After sitting out most of the season in retirement, Veldheer joined the Packers for the stretch run. He replaced Bulaga against Detroit in Week 17 (concussion) and Seattle in the divisional playoffs (illness) and didn’t allow a single pressure in 53 pass-protecting snaps. He wants to play in 2020.

Spriggs bombed as a second-round pick in 2016 and spent all of last season on injured reserve.

RELATED: NFL scout lists his five top free-agent linebackers

OUR TOP 10

Anthony Castonzo, Indianapolis (31): Castonzo has started 132 of a possible 144 games in his nine seasons. In three of the past four, he was a perfect 16-of-16. Last season, 57 offensive tackles played at least 50 percent of the pass-protecting snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 28th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (three), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. While those numbers aren’t great, he was guilty of zero holding penalties and two total penalties. According to Sports Info Solutions, he had six blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.4 percent.

Jack Conklin, Tennessee (25): A first-round pick in 2016, Conklin started 16 games in three of his four seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 30th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (four), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. In his first three seasons, he was guilty of three holds and 13 total penalties. Last year, on the other hand, he was penalized for four holds and eight total penalties. According to SIS, he had five blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.3 percent.

Andrew Whitworth, L.A. Rams (38): Whitworth continues to defy Father Time. He’s started all 16 games in five of the last six seasons and nine of the last 11. He earned All-Pro honors in 2015 (with Cincinnati) and 2017 (with the Rams). According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked ninth in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (one), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. However, he was guilty of career highs in holding penalties (nine) and total penalties (14). According to SIS, he had five blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.3 percent.

Bryan Bulaga, Green Bay (31): For just the second time in his 10-year career, Bulaga started all 16 games. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 17th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (four), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. If that’s not good enough for you, he was guilty of only two holds and six total penalties while facing the likes of Khalil Mack (twice), Danielle Hunter (twice) and Von Miller, among others. Among the free-agent tackles, he had the best blown-block rate (three; 0.9 percent), according to Sports Info Solutions.

Kelvin Beachum, N.Y. Jets (31): A seventh-round pick in 2012, Beachum has been a steal. He’s started 99 games in eight seasons, including 45-of-48 in his three years in the Big Apple. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 30th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (four), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. However, he was flagged for a career-worst six holding penalties – one more than his combined number from the past three years – and seven total penalties. According to SIS, he had six blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.9 percent.

Jason Peters, Philadelphia (38): Most of the league’s starting offensive tackles were selected in the first round. Peters wasn’t even drafted. He’s had a Hall of Fame-caliber career, though. In 14 seasons, he’s a nine-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro and 195-game starter. He started 13 games last year for the Eagles. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked ninth in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (three), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. He was guilty of only one hold – giving him just four in the past five seasons – but 10 total penalties. According to SIS, he had five blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.6 percent.

Demar Dotson, Tampa Bay (34): In 11 seasons with the Buccaneers, Dotson has started 106 games. That includes 15 started each of the past two seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 24th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (five), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. He was flagged for five holds and 10 total penalties. According to SIS, he had six blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 1.7 percent.

Jared Veldheer, Green Bay (32): Veldheer signed with New England in free agency last year but retired during the offseason practices. He helped rescue the Packers when Bulaga was unavailable. He didn’t allow a single pressure in the regular-season game against Detroit or the playoff game against Seattle. He didn’t have a blown block on 10 running plays, according to SIS. He started 113 games in 10 seasons, including 13 for Arizona in 2017 and 12 for Denver in 2018. In the past six seasons, during which he started 65 games, he was guilty of only six holding penalties.

Brandon Shell, N.Y. Jets (28): A fifth-round pick in 2016, Shell started 40 games for the Jets – including 12 in 2017, 14 in 2018 and 11 in 2019. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranked 54th in its pass-protecting metric, which measures sacks (seven), hits and hurries allowed per pass-protecting snap. For his career, he’s been flagged only twice for holding and 11 times overall, including zero holds and two penalties in 2019. According to SIS, he had a blown-block rate of 1.0 percent on running plays.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Philadelphia (26): Vaitai has 20 starts in four seasons, including three in 2019. He allowed two sacks. Had he met the 50 percent playing time threshold we’ve been using, he would have ranked 44th in PFF’s pass-protecting metric. Even with the limited playing time (477 snaps), he was slapped with four holding penalties and four total penalties. According to SIS, he had five blown blocks on running plays for a blown-block rate of 2.8 percent.

PREVIEWING FREE AGENCY

Star power at quarterback

King Henry and Gordon lead running backs

Buyer beware in weak group of receivers

Buyer beware at tight end, too

Thuney leads interior offensive linemen

Bulaga, Veldheer part of crop aging of offensive tackles