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Another trade that looks like a good one.
Adam Schefter and Tom Pellisero announced this morning that the Jets traded defensive end Jermaine Johnson to the Tennessee Titans for massive nose tackle D’Vondre Sweat (6-4, 366).
It’s hard to argue with this move on any level.
The Jets’ run defense up the middle last year was not good – before and after the Quinnen Williams trade to Dallas (another smart trade).
The Williams trade had little to do with the run defense issues over the second half of the season, like when they got gashed in the last game of the year by the Bills starting four backup offensive linemen. Backup running back Ray Davis ran for 151 yards on 21 carries. People are quick to make excuses for the Jets in this game due to some defensive injuries, but their two starting DTs and the two starting linebackers all year were manning the middle.
So the secondary injuries, and the defensive end Will McDonald (not a great run defender due to his slender build) being out, should not impact the evaluation of the run defense in this game.
The two starting defensive tackles, Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs, are best suited for the #3 and #4 spots. Great guys, try-hard guys, great character, but the media got a little carried away praising them for their play. Perhaps due to how great they are with the media. They had their moments, but too often with that tandem playing together at DT, big runs occurred up the gut. It was not a lack of effort.
One of the Jets’ biggest needs entering the off-season, and I stress “biggest,” was for a massive run-stopping nose tackle who would make it hard for teams to run up the middle.
Enter Sweat, the 2023 Outland Trophy winner at Texas, who it takes “a $25 cab ride to get around” to use an old scouting phrase.
Look, I’m not putting Sweat in Canton. He’s got some things to work on, but he’s a fairly athletic 6-4, 366-pound interior disruptor. The Jets desperately need a cat like this. Just like they need a dominating edge-rusher, something they will likely address with the #2 pick.
Johnson wasn’t that guy, and Will McDonald is more of a situational pass rusher and disappears for long stretches.
Not sure Johnson was a first-round defensive end, and it looked like he was potentially slipping out of the first round, until the Jets traded back into round one, landing pick 26, to select him.
I will never forget listening to long-time NFL personnel executive Randy Mueller talking about the Jets trading into the end of the first round to pick Johnson. He said he didn’t like it. Based on his research, trading into the end of the first round to grab guys who slip often doesn’t work out.
There are legitimate reasons Johnson slipped past where the hype claimed he was going to be picked. Hip stiffness was one of the issues.
“[He’s a] face-up rusher with some hip tightness when bending the edge,” wrote Lance Zeirlein before the 2022 draft.
With his hip stiffness and long legs, Johnson struggled to bend under tackles to take the edge.
Look, I’m looking to trash Johnson, who is a good guy, and did some nice things for the Jets, but the tape wasn’t often commensurate with the hype.
The Jets had the 32nd-ranked pass defense in the NFL last year. Some of that was the work of the defensive backs and linebackers in coverage, but it was also due to the team not having a very good pass rush.
And Johnson was scheduled to make $13.4 million this year on the fifth-year option. He’s not worth that kind of cap charge, and it was unlikely the Jets were going to sign him long-term, unless is was a reasonable deal, which his cap likely wouldn’t have accepted. His camp likely views him as Trey Hendrickson. That’s how camps are. They aren’t objective.
Somebody, clearly from his camp, told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Johnson “quietly wanted out of New York.”
Well, clearly the Jets quietly wanted to get rid of him if they could get what they perceived as the right value in return.
Sweat seems like a good return.
Sweat probably didn’t fit Robert Saleh’s defense. He likes smaller, quicker DTs. You don’t see a lot of 6-4, 366-pound players on a Saleh D-Line.
And Saleh tends to fall in love with players. Like he did with Michael Clemons.
So as long as he’s looking to get the band back together – the Jets should try to see what he would offer for Jamien Sherwood.
February 26, 2026
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