Jets Trade Jermaine Johnson to Titans for T'Vondre Sweat in Rare Player-for-Player Swap
The New York Jets have sent jermaine johnson to the Tennessee Titans in a player-for-player trade that brings defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat to New York. The move, which cannot be finalized until the start of the league year on March 11, is the latest step in a sustained reworking of the Jets' defense.
Jermaine Johnson reunited with Robert Saleh
Johnson will reunite in Tennessee with coach Robert Saleh, who coached the Jets when they selected Johnson with the 26th overall pick in the 2022 draft. The Titans also hired Saleh as their new head coach after going 3-14 in 2025. Aaron Whitecotton, the Titans' defensive line coach, will again be Johnson's position coach; Whitecotton served in that role for Johnson during his first three seasons in New York.
T'Vondre Sweat's profile and contract
The Jets are acquiring a 6-foot-2, 366-pound interior presence in T'Vondre Sweat, a second-round pick in 2024 who was drafted 38th overall. Sweat is signed through 2027 and will count approximately $1. 7 million on the Jets' salary cap. His statistical record in Tennessee is presented in two frames in the available reporting: one account lists 85 tackles and three sacks in 29 games for the Titans, and another cites 34 tackles and two sacks for Tennessee last season. Sweat suffered an ankle injury in Tennessee's season-opening loss to the Broncos and missed five games last season.
Trade processing, roster math and the Jets' draft cache
The deal is a rare straight player-for-player swap and cannot be processed until March 11, the start of the new league year. It arrives amid what has been described as a protracted teardown of a once-formidable Jets defense. New York previously traded All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts and star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys; another account places those moves in November and notes they occurred before the trade deadline. More broadly, eight of the Jets' 11 first-round picks from 2015 to 2022 have now been traded.
The franchise now holds a dozen selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, including the No. 2 and No. 16 overall picks, giving the team substantial draft capital. The Johnson trade reinforced the view that the Jets could select an edge rusher at No. 2, with Arvell Reese of Ohio State, David Bailey of Texas Tech and Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami all named as potential targets in the coverage that preceded the deal.
Jermaine Johnson's injury history and recent production
Johnson rose to prominence in a breakout 2023 season when he posted a career-high 7. 5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a pick-six and was named to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement. Two games into the 2024 campaign, in Week 2 at Tennessee, he tore his Achilles tendon and missed the remainder of that season. He rehabbed to return for the start of the 2025 season but did not regain his previous burst; in 14 games he finished with three sacks and six quarterback hits. Both Johnson and the team acknowledged that the Achilles injury probably affected his performance, and Johnson later admitted his own play "wasn't up to his standard. " Over four seasons and 47 games with the Jets, he totaled 13 sacks and 131 tackles.
Johnson also had drawn trade interest before the previous season's deadline, but the Jets kept him for the remainder of that year. He has one year remaining on his contract and is due to receive a guaranteed $13. 4 million in 2026 under the fifth-year option.
MetLife Stadium moment and the broader optics
A previously circulated image captured Johnson celebrating a defensive stop at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 19, 2025, in a game against the Carolina Panthers in East Rutherford, New Jersey, underscoring his standing with fans and moments of impact during his Jets tenure. In a social media post acknowledging the trade on Thursday, Johnson thanked New York and said the city "will always hold a special place" in his heart, noting gratitude for the past "4-5 years" and wishing his former coaches and teammates well.
Scheme considerations were explicitly cited as a factor in the swap: the Jets, contemplating more 3-4 fronts, sought added size on the interior, while Tennessee's scheme prioritizes smaller, faster linemen. Because Johnson's production dipped after the Achilles injury and the Jets wanted more interior mass, the teams executed a trade that matches contrasting schematic needs and the Jets' larger roster reset.
What makes this notable is how the transaction ties together multiple threads—the Jets' large haul of draft assets, a continuing roster teardown that has included high-profile departures, and a coaching reunion for Johnson—while leaving clear questions about on-field roles until the trade is processed on March 11.
