Jets ink Faneca to five-year deal

Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Alan Faneca signed with the New York Jets on Saturday, agreeing to a five-year, $40 million deal, a source told Yahoo! Sports. The deal includes $21 million in guaranteed money.

The deal officially ends a distinguished career in Pittsburgh for Faneca, who became an All Pro staple at guard and helped pave the way for Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker over the last decade. But that relationship deteriorated last offseason, when Faneca failed to receive a much wanted contract extension while watching several free-agent guards land record-setting contracts.

Once considered a cheap interchangeable commodity, guards are once again affirmed as valued position players by Faneca’s deal. That trend was jumpstarted last season when Leonard Davis, Derrick Dockery, Eric Steinbach and Kris Dielman all signed contracts averaging $6.5 million to $7 million per season.

All of the guard deals also signal what should be a significant jump in salaries for offensive tackles, which have traditionally had the balance of offensive line dollars plowed into their positions. Now teams are moving toward creating highly paid, high caliber guard-tackle tandems. Cleveland did just that with the signing of Steinbach last season, pairing him with No. 3 overall pick Joe Thomas and creating what materialized as one of the best offensive line duos in the league.

Now Faneca will help anchor the left side of New York’s line, creating a potent trio of Faneca, left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold. Ferguson and Mangold – first round picks from the last two drafts – are already considered among the most talented young tackles and centers in the NFL.