Jermaine Johnson and T’Vondre Sweat. Kenneth Richmond, Wesley Hitt / Getty Images
The New York Jets have agreed to trade defensive end Jermaine Johnson to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, according to a league source. The trade is pending physicals for both players and cannot be processed until the start of the new league year on March 11.
The Jets chose not to deal Johnson at the trade deadline last fall, but their plans changed. This marks the first major move of the offseason for the Jets and ends Johnson’s four-year run in New York. He is the second of the team’s three first-round picks from 2022 to get traded away after Sauce Gardner was dealt to the Colts at the deadline. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson is the last man standing from that trio.
Johnson, 27, will reunite with former Jets head coach Robert Saleh in Tennessee, his coach when he was drafted and when Johnson had his best season in 2023, making the Pro Bowl.
Johnson tore his Achilles tendon two games into the 2024 season — in Nashville against the Titans — and was unable to return to form last season. He butted heads with defensive line coach Eric Washington and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, according to team sources (both Wilks and Washington have since been fired). Those team sources said that Johnson publicly expressed his commitment to the Jets, but privately indicated he was unhappy. In 2025, Johnson recorded three sacks and six QB hits in 14 games.
Sweat, 24, is viewed as a talented young defensive tackle who should fit in the new defense Aaron Glenn plans to run and call plays for in 2026. Sweat is 6 foot 4 and 366 pounds and adds depth to a DT group that already includes Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs. Sweat had two sacks and three QB hits in 12 games last season. Pro Football Focus graded him as the sixth-best run stopper among all defensive tackles in 2025. He was a 2024 second-round pick of the Titans.
The Jets will save $13.4 million by trading away Johnson, while Sweat, still on his rookie contract and ineligible for an extension until after the 2026 season, will only count $1.7 million against the cap. This creates a need at edge rusher for the Jets, as the only starting-caliber player they have left at the position is Will McDonald. The team is expected to look at adding edge players in both free agency and the NFL Draft, including potentially with the No. 2 overall pick.
Feb 26, 2026
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