A big fish just dove into the pond.

Three-time Pro Bowl guard Wyatt Teller announced via an Instagram post on Wednesday that he plans to leave the Cleveland Browns in free agency.

Browns Pro-Bowl guard Wyatt Teller, who is scheduled to be a free agent this off-season, announced on IG that he will not return to Cleveland and he now will sign elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/9rK3Y1Byly

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2026

Teller, 31, will be an unrestricted free agent.

And the Jets should be among the first teams to give him a call.

The Jets’ guard situation

New York is expected to be looking for at least one starter on the interior of their offensive line, possibly two.

Left guard John Simpson is set for free agency. After a down year that saw him rank as one of the league’s lesser starters at the position, the Jets can stand to upgrade.

Meanwhile, there is ample room for the Jets to improve at center, as their returning starter, Josh Myers, ranked as one of the worst starting centers in 2025. The Jets signed Myers to an extension, although the price ($6 million guaranteed over two years) hardly guarantees him a starting spot.

The Jets could replace Myers by sliding right guard Joe Tippmann back to center, which was his initial position before Alijah Vera-Tucker’s injury forced Tippmann to slide to right guard. Tippmann graded higher as a center in 2024 (73.4, via PFF) than he did as a right guard in 2025 (66.0), so it is an option the Jets could consider. That would leave a hole open at right guard.

While the guard position is a need for the Jets, it is far down their shopping list going into the offseason. They have numerous needs at more premium positions, such as quarterback, wide receiver, edge rusher, and defensive tackle.

Plus, the offensive line as a whole is not a major issue, as the Jets already have three young, above-average starters in Tippmann, left tackle Olu Fashanu, and right tackle Armand Membou.

Thus, it makes sense for the Jets to address the guard spot(s) with one or two mid-level investments, allowing them to upgrade the position while saving the necessary capital to properly address their more pressing needs.

Enter Wyatt Teller.

Teller fits the Jets’ offense

As he enters his age-32 season coming off a pair of injury-plagued years (four games missed apiece in 2024 and 2025), Teller is likely going to command an affordable short-term deal on the open market. Financially, he makes sense for the Jets’ situation.

Football-wise, he is an ideal fit to provide excellent value on the dollar in New York’s offense.

Teller is known for his “mauler” style of play. He made a name for himself in Cleveland as one of the most powerful downhill run-blockers in the NFL.

That would make him a perfect fit in the scheme of Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich.

In each of his last two years as an NFL head coach, Reich’s teams primarily relied on run concepts that are intended to pound the ball up the middle, rather than outrun the defense to the edge. Reich used both inside zone and man/duo concepts at high rates compared to the NFL average, per FTN Fantasy, while he utilized outside zone concepts at low rates.

Teller would fit right into this type of offense.

He would also be a useful asset in a division where the Jets are chasing the New England Patriots, a team whose interior run defense was so dominant in 2025 that it essentially carried the team to the Super Bowl.

Teller’s talent as a downhill run blocker, along with the general nastiness he brings to the field, would be vital in helping the Jets win the line of scrimmage against New England’s sturdy defensive interior. As currently constructed, the Jets do not have the necessary cogs to run the ball up the middle on the Patriots’ defense. It will constrict them in the predictable third-and-longs that New England feasts on.

While Teller is not quite the same player he was when he registered four straight seasons with post-season accolades from 2020-23, he is still a solid starting guard. This past season, his 65.7 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus ranked 29th out of 64 qualified guards. He also committed just four penalties on 765 offensive snaps.

Pass protection was an issue for Teller this past season, as he posted a career-low 53.1 pass-blocking grade. However, it’s fair to wonder if this number was skewed by the hideous quarterback play that the Browns’ offensive linemen had to work with. Cleveland spent most of the season with two post-first-round rookie quarterbacks who looked lost on the field.

Overall, Teller projects as a sound fit for the Jets’ financial and football needs. New York general manager Darren Mougey would be wise to drop Teller’s agent a line and see if he can get the intimidating guard to Florham Park on a one-year pact.

Last offseason, 35-year-old Kevin Zeitler, also a former Pro Bowler, signed a one-year, $9 million deal with the Titans.

Landing Teller on a similar contract would be a shrewd move by Mougey.