Jermaine Johnson trade finalized as jermaine johnson moves to Titans for T'Vondre Sweat
The Jets traded pass rusher jermaine johnson to the Tennessee Titans in a player-for-player swap, sending him to Tennessee in exchange for defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat. The teams agreed to the deal Thursday, but the trade cannot be processed until the start of the league year on March 11.
Jermaine Johnson reunites with Saleh
The move reunites Johnson with coach Robert Saleh, who coached New York when the Jets selected Johnson with the 26th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Johnson will also work again with defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, who was his position coach with the Jets for his first three seasons.
Jets get T'Vondre Sweat
In exchange, New York acquires T'Vondre Sweat, a 6-foot-2, 366-pound interior presence who was a second-round pick in 2024 and was drafted 38th overall. Sweat is signed through 2027 on a team-friendly contract and will count $1. 7 million on the Jets' salary cap.
Trade timing and contract details
Johnson has one year remaining on his contract and is due to make a guaranteed $13. 4 million in 2026, the amount of his fifth-year option. The trade cannot be processed until March 11, the start of the league year.
Injury and 2025 performance
The Titans are betting Johnson can regain the form he showed in 2023, when he posted a career-high 7. 5 sacks and was named to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement. Johnson's 2024 season ended in Week 2 at Tennessee when he tore an Achilles tendon and missed the remainder of that season. He rehabbed and returned for the start of the 2025 season, but he did not have the same burst.
Across 14 games in 2025 he finished with three sacks and six quarterback hits; he later admitted his performance was not up to his standard, and both he and the team acknowledged the Achilles injury probably affected his play. In four seasons and 47 games with the Jets, Johnson compiled 13 sacks and 131 tackles.
Injury history and Sweat's track record
Sweat posted 85 tackles and three sacks in 29 games following his 2024 selection. He suffered an ankle injury in Tennessee's season-opening loss to the Broncos and missed five games last season.
Deadline interest and 49ers
Johnson generated trade interest before the deadline last season, but New York kept him for the remainder of the year. At the deadline the San Francisco 49ers offered the Jets a third-round pick for Johnson; Connor Hughes said the Jets wanted a second-round pick, and that discrepancy is why Johnson did not move to San Francisco at the deadline. San Francisco's third-round pick would have been at the tail end of that round, which may have contributed to the Jets' decision to turn down the offer.
In reviewing late-season production, Johnson had only two sacks in the second half of the season but produced nearly 30 pressures in that span, a disruptive level the 49ers had sought.
Roster strategy and bigger picture
The deal underscores a broader restructuring of the Jets' defense. New York also traded defensive stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams in November; both are former first-round draft picks. Eight of the Jets' 11 first-round picks from 2015 to 2022 have been traded. The Jets' roster moves and this trade reinforce the belief that New York will take an edge player with the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, with Ohio State's Arvell Reese and Texas Tech's David Bailey as the leading candidates.
Reactions and criticism
Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, Damien Woody and Stephen A. Smith publicly called out Jets coach Aaron Glenn for claiming to have "playcalling superpowers. " (2: 46)
Johnson acknowledged the trade in a social media post later Thursday, thanking New York and writing that the love he's been shown "for the past 4-5 years has been nothing short of amazing, both on and off the field, " and saying New York will "always hold a special place in my heart" while wishing his former coaches and teammates the best.
Turron Davenport contributed to the report.
