Jermaine Johnson is Perfect For Titans New Defense

Just one day after making initial offseason waves with the release of two players, the Tennessee Titans have turned around (and turned on the burners) with a follow-up trade. It's Tennessee's first swap of the offseason, and one that some saw coming a mile away.

Sending defensive tackle T'Vondre Sweat to the Jets - a former second-round pick for Tennessee - the Titans returned EDGE Jermaine Johnson, a formerly splashy linebacker under Robert Saleh during his time with the Jets. Johnson just recently returned from a brutal Achilles injury sustained two seasons ago.

While his triumphant, "run it back" campaign yielded just three sacks, that tally may be improved under Saleh. And with the trade being a straight, one-for-one swap, Tennessee had little to lose in swinging on a position need that, under Saleh, logged a career-best 7.5 sack season in 2023.

Returning to Success

Johnson, who also secured Pro Bowl recognition that year, has been working ever since to get back to that level of breakout production. The aforementioned Sweat, on the other hand - two years newer to the league than Johnson - posted just two sacks on a season not near as defensively dire as that of the Jets.

With the latter team having not recorded a single interception throughout their entire 2025-26 campaign, Johnson's struggles may also be attributed, at least in part, to that unit's overarching incompetence.

Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Sweat could've improved as well, sure, but with as much red ink as has been used to outline the Titans' weakness on the defensive edge, being able to outright exchange a mostly stagnant defender for a former prodigy of Saleh's right when you need him most is about as clear-cut as trades get.

Saleh may be showing mild favoritism for a former player, but if he can re-enter the coach's system and replicate his 2023 season, even to a relative event? By all means, Saleh, favor away.

Picking Favorites

Johnson, a player that Saleh dubbed "grossly underrated," and someone who will be "good for a long time," in New York (per SNY), has the chance to be worth the additional $12.6 million that his contract brings to the roster.

Not to mention that, with the roomiest cap space in the league, Tennessee is in comfortable position to take a few risks in that department, too.

In his first overseen move as the Titans' HC, Saleh has already met a serious need. The offseason will be long but, if these early trends are any indication, it'll be a pivotal and productive one in Nashville, in equal parts.

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