Patriots To Add G Alijah Vera-Tucker

The Giants were negotiating with the ex-Jet guard’s camp, per SNY’s Connor Hughes, but the NFC East club could not close the deal. Vera-Tucker instead will join the defending AFC champions. The Giants may have balked at the price, per Hughes, and it appears a few teams were willing to bet on upside here.

The Pats are giving Vera-Tucker a three-year, $42MM deal that could climb to $48MM, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Guarantees are not yet known, but it looks like the injury-plagued blocker has done well for himself.

Vera-Tucker has moved between guard and right tackle as a pro, though the USC alum has shown his best stuff inside. Pro Football Focus ranked the 2021 first-rounder ninth overall among guards in 2024. Unfortunately, he could not build on that momentum. A third season-ending injury transpired in 2025, hurting Vera-Tucker’s extension case — a cause also affected by the Jets’ organizational turnover.

Encountering triceps tears in both arms, Vera-Tucker also sustained an Achilles tear during his rookie contract. He missed 41 games as a Jet. The team viewed the former No. 14 overall pick as a Pro Bowl-caliber guard, but injuries impeded him. Still, Vera-Tucker is heading into an age-27 season. The Patriots will bet on upside, though it is worth wondering how much they’re betting.

PFR’s No. 44-ranked free agent, Vera-Tucker probably would have been the top guard this year had he endured one or two season-ending maladies. But the second triceps tear wiping out all of his 2025 season made this an unpredictable market. New England has probably secured one of the highest-upside plays this year, though it comes with obvious risk.

As Ben Levine’s Patriots Offseason Outlook noted, 2025 left guard starter Jared Wilson was a college center. With the Pats trading Garrett Bradbury to the Bears, it is possible Wilson slides there and Vera-Tucker camps at LG. Vera-Tucker was primarily a right guard as a Jet; Michael Onwenu plays there for the Pats, though he has proven malleable as well. As for the Jets, they are down to one player from their five-first-rounder contingent from 2021-22. Garrett Wilson remains, while Zach Wilson, Vera-Tucker, Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson are gone.

The Giants have been connected to a few guards. Two of those rumored options — Wyatt Teller, Daniel Faalele — remain unsigned as we wind down an explosive first day of the legal tampering period.