Jets Could Steal Cowboys Pass Rusher to Fill Jermaine Johnson Void

Heavy on Jets

The New York Jets no longer have Jermaine Johnson for the 2024 season and they need to find a replacement ASAP.

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic floated out the possibility of the team stealing veteran defensive lineman Carl Lawson off of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad as an option.

An Unlikely Jets Reunion?

Lawson was with the Jets from 2021 through 2023 by way of a $45 million contract in free agency.

The former Auburn product’s tenure with the team was defined by injuries. He missed out on the entirety of the 2021 season due to a torn Achilles. Then in his final season in 2023, Lawson hurt his back in training camp and was never the same.

Sandwiched in between those two injury-riddled seasons, Lawson showed some pop registering seven sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 24 quarterback hits in 2022.

When healthy, Lawson has proven to be a highly productive player in the National Football League. He has just had a hard time staying available.

Lawson signed with the Cowboys in the middle of August trying to make the final 53-man roster. He fell short of that goal but was brought back on the team’s practice squad.

If the Jets wanted him, they could poach him off of Dallas’ practice squad and sign him to the 53-man roster. The only thing the Jets would have to give up is the financial component of signing him to a deal. They wouldn’t have to give up any assets to the Cowboys to bring Lawson in.

Jets Signing Lawson Makes Too Much Sense Not to Happen

The Jets are in a bind with limited options available. Johnson is out for the year with a blown-out Achilles. This offseason they parted ways with Bryce Huff, John Franklin-Myers, and Quinton Jefferson.

All of those losses have left the Jets incredibly thin on the defensive line.

Lawson already knows the Jets defensive system. He was with the team over the last three years and the entire defensive coaching staff is the same.

The Jets have a need, Lawson is available, so what’s the hold-up?

How does Lawson feel about how things ended with the Jets? If he holds any ill will that might kill the possibility of this move coming to fruition.

Last year Lawson only appeared in 24% of the defensive snaps with the Jets which was by far the lowest mark of his NFL career. He was getting so little playing time on the Jets that Lawson’s name came up in rumors ahead of the NFL trade deadline.

“I’ve always wanted to help the Jets win and be the best version of myself for a team,” Lawson said on October 26, 2023, via Phillip Martinez of SNY. “But at the end of the day, I want to be a football player and produce and help. I’m a football player, not a cheerleader. That’s where my head’s at….As long as I’m a Jet I’m going to keep getting better and be the best version of Carl Lawson I can be.”

While Lawson had issues getting on the field in 2023, it doesn’t look like he’d have any of those issues in 2024 with the Jets. The green and white have experienced an array of injuries and are looking for bodies to add to the D-Line rotation.