In the past I have not been Ju'Wuan James' biggest fan. My rationale is two-fold, 1) he isn't very good in the run game, 2) he isn't very reliable.
Every discussion of James begins with his pass protection, which is OK … not great like people seem to think, but OK. It's a lot easier being a RT than a LT and James is sometimes very good, and sometimes not … which leads me to my other concern, dependability. James picks up nagging injuries and loses time to those and underperforms for stretches when playing through them or recovering from them. It's understandable … but it's also not reliable.
As Parcells was always fond of noting, the most important ability is availability. James isn't injury-prone, and he doesn't miss huge chunks of seasons like Mike Pouncey did, but even while on his rookie contract James seems to miss games every year and play poorly for stretches usually because he is playing through nagging injury recovery. But whatever the reason, we need a guy who can get the job done, and inconsistency is not how you build a young QB's confidence.
The first 5 years of an OL's career are likely to be their healthiest, and as they age they're likely to get injured more often. That's just the nature of the game. James is already having lots of little injuries. Nothing big and scary long term, but they keep happening to the point where I don't trust his health and reliability. Couple that with the fact he is poor in the run game and I'm just not that impressed. Right Tackles aren't that hard to find, so unless he is actually good, I'm not prepared to pay a premium.
IMHO, if we're tanking, this is the perfect opportunity to let him walk, let him get his big paycheck, tank, and replace him with a young OL who is better, cheaper, or both. When a new coach comes in, he gets rid of the veterans. End of contract and a difficult and expensive gamble on an average player … looks like the ideal time to move on from that veteran. Not being callous, because I think it's going to happen to the vast majority of veterans who present no special value or dead-cap penalties.