Wednesday started with a report that the Jets were looking to upgrade one of their weakest positions on the roster: wide receiver (according to The Athletic).
By sundown, they had made two trades to addressing a weakness. But not at wide receiver. No, on Wednesday afternoon the Jets addressed their defensive tackle room, including a deal that finally landed them an obvious starter to pair with star Quinnen Williams on the interior defensive line.
The Jets traded for veteran defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, sending a 2026 sixth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Vikings in exchange for Phillips and a 2027 seventh-round pick, according to ESPN which first reported the deal.
It’s a good deal, not just because the Jets had to spend only two late-round picks to land a proven starter: Harrison started all 51 regular season games for Minnesota in the last three years. But, according to ESPN, the Vikings are also paying half of Phillips’ $7 million 2025 salary, which means they’re getting a proven starter to pair alongside Williams at a discount.
The Jets also added another veteran defensive tackle with a trade involving another late-round pick swap earlier Wednesday: they received Jowon Briggs and a 20206-seventh round pick from Cleveland for a 2027 seventh-rounder. Briggs, a 2024 seventh-round pick, played six games as a rookie and finished with 13 tackles, two QB hits, and a forced fumble.
The Jets didn’t truly address their defensive tackle need in free agency after losing Javon Kinlaw and Solomon Thomas in free agency. Byron Cowart, the veteran journeyman with 21 career starts, was the favorite for the role but has been sidelined by an ankle injury for most of camp. Jay Tufele had a strong camp, but only started five games over the last three seasons for the Bengals. And Derrick Nnadi, who came to the Jets after losing lost his starting job last year with the Chiefs.
With Phillips almost certainly sliding into the starting role, and Briggs likely sticking on the roster after the Jets spent a draft pick to acquire him, the defensive tackles who spent training camp with the Jets suddenly find themselves in a precarious spot. Wednesday started with Cowart, Tufele, and Nnadi all with a reasonable shot to make the roster. Now there’s a real chance only one of them will survive the final round of cuts on Tuesday.
Depth Projection
Here’s our up-to-date projection of the Jets defensive line depth:
Roster locks: Quinnen Williams, Harrison Phillips
Likely safe: Jowon Briggs, Jay Tufele, Byron Cowart
Potentially out: Leonard Taylor III, Derrick Nnadi, Phidarian Mathis, Payton Page
If the Jets want to keep six defensive tackles (which seems like too many), Taylor would be the most likely to make the roster, because of his superior talent and upside. There’s also the chance that Cowart starts the season on injured reserve, which would allow them to keep Taylor (or another DT) while carrying only five.
Now What?
As we alluded to earlier, the Jets have other major needs. Most notably, at wide receiver. So what does these moves on the defensive line mean for a potential deal to address that need?
Well, it shows the Jets aren’t going to wait until next week to surf the waiver wire for potential talent at a position of need. And since they received a late-round pick back in each of Wednesday’s deals, they still have ammo to complete a similar caliber move at wide receiver.
But since the Jets are clearly doing everything they can to upgrade their roster at the moment, it would be unwise to rule out higher-profile deal at receiver, which is now the most glaring weakness on the roster by far.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached atavasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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