The NFL Combine began on Thursday and two of the league’s worst teams already made a big time trade. The New York Jets are sending defensive end Jermaine Johnson to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat, which could tip the hand for both teams as we approach the draft.

Johnson being dealt by the Jets isn’t surprising, if only because head coach Aaron Glenn has been cleaning house on the defensive side of the ball since his arrival. Last season saw the organization trade away both Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams ahead of the trade deadline — amassing draft capital and reshaping the defense in the process. It’s unclear if Johnson’s mediocrity is a product of his own performance, or whether it’s the Glenn system he didn’t respond to in 2025, but new Titans head coach Robert Saleh is banking on Johnson returning to the 7.5 sack form he gave the Jets in 2023.

Moving Sweat for the Titans is largely a product of fit. At 6’4, 366 pounds, Sweat is the prototypical 3-4 nose tackle designed to eat space in the middle and command double blocks with his strength to open up pass rush lanes. However, Tennessee is moving to a 4-3 defense under Saleh, which both de-emphasizes the need for a space-eating nose and requires them to get a bigger pass-rusher on the edge. Meanwhile, the Jets are making the inverse move, as they switch to a 3-4 defense — meaning they were in dire need of a force in the middle.

Let’s look deeper at this deal from both sides.

T’Vondre Sweat to the New York Jets

If you’re going to try to land a nose tackle, why not get one of the better ones in the NFL? T’Vondre Sweat is absolutely fantastic at both eating space and generating pressure up the middle, which is unusual for a man his size. Sweat has been overlooked far too much because he plays on a terrible team, and truthfully, I’m stunned the Jets didn’t need to give up anything else in return in terms of draft capital to get this deal done. When it comes to brass tacks, New York got the younger, more talented player in this exchange by a fairly significant margin.

This now opens up New York to do the expected in the draft and take an EDGE with the No. 2 overall pick. The process will shake out to see whether that’s Arvell Reese, Rueben Bain, or a dark horse like David Bailey. Regardless of which direction the go this was a 1-2 punch that offloaded a player they didn’t need, and astronomically overhaul a position they needed in the new-look 3-4.

Jermaine Johnson to the Titans

I absolutely understand that the Titans need pass rush as well, but the top of the 2026 class is very 3-4 heavy with Bain being iffy when placed in a 4-3 role, then a profound drop off all the way to Keldric Faulk before you find a DE that’s easy to project.

Nevertheless, there’s a significant talent delta between Johnson and Sweat, even if the deal makes sense on paper. Yes, they didn’t need Sweat in a 4-3, but it feels like the Titans undervalued him as a result. Jermaine Johnson is solid, but unremarkable. He’s a better run defender off the edge than a pure pass rusher, which is typified by the fact that he was pulled off the field on many third-down pass rush situations in 2025. Layer in the fact that Johnson had a season-ending injury in 2024, and he’s the older player — man, I don’t know, it just feels like the Titans could have put the screws to the Jets a little more and gotten a third round pick out of this deal as well.

On the plus side this opens up the draft for them a lot. That is the saving grace of this deal. If the Titans roll the dice on Bain projecting to a 4-3 end they have their starters set at the position. They could dangle the No. 4 pick in a trade to move back, potentially landing someone like Faulk at a spot that makes more sense or go deeper down for DT Peter Woods, who would fit their 4-3 front while adding significant draft capital in the process.

The Titans have a lot of options, but they still should have been able to wrestle a pick away from the Jets in this deal.