The New York Jets have built half of a starting defense in the matter of a few hours.
Less than 150 minutes past the opening of the NFL’s legal tampering window, the Jets are up to five defensive signings for a combined $118 million.
The latest of those pickups is 11th-year defensive tackle David Onyemata. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, New York has agreed with Onyemata on a one-year, $10.5 million deal with $9.65 million guaranteed.
Onyemata started all 17 games for the Atlanta Falcons last season, recording a career-high 62 total tackles to go with one sack.
A fourth-round pick of the Saints in 2016, the Nigerian native played his first seven NFL seasons in New Orleans. He overlapped with Jets head coach Aaron Glenn for the first five of those seasons, making him New York’s second signing of the day who knows Glenn from New Orleans, joining linebacker Demario Davis.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Onyemata has been a solid two-way player throughout his NFL career, recording 31 sacks, 49 tackles for loss, and 401 total tackles in 154 games. While his pass-rush production has begun to dwindle as he gets into his thirties, he remains a quality run defender.
In 2025, Onyemata’s 74.2 run defense grade at Pro Football Focus ranked seventh-best among defensive tackles with at least 200 snaps against the run. He tied for 15th at the position with 25 total run stops.
Although his sack numbers have declined since the heart of his career (he averaged 4.4 sacks per season from 2020-23), Onyemata can still do damage as a pass rusher. This past season, his 9.7% pass-rush win rate placed 37th out of 97 defensive tackles (min. 200 pass-rush snaps), per PFF, which is comfortably above-average.
Onyemata’s tackling will be welcomed by a Jets defense that struggled mightily to wrap up in 2025. He missed just three tackles all season, and his 4.8% missed tackle rate was the fifth-lowest among defensive tackles (min. 500 defensive snaps). As he enters a young defensive line room, his advice on tackling technique could go a long way.
In the immediate aftermath of the Quinnen Williams trade last November, the Jets’ defensive tackle unit looked barren, but general manager Darren Mougey has slowly built it back up to a solid place entering the 2026 NFL draft. Onyemata joins forces with the tantalizing young duo of Jowon Briggs and T’Vondre Sweat to give the Jets a quality top-three on the interior.
With Briggs and Sweat each being 24 years old, Onyemata’s leadership will be valuable in helping both players continue to build on the progress they made in 2025.
On a one-year deal, Onyemata projects as a significant short-term upgrade at a position of need while also supplementing the growth of New York’s core young players in the room. The $10.5 million price tag isn’t chump change, but Onyemata’s consistent track record throughout his career gives him a high probability of providing a strong return on investment on that number.
The Jets need to start winning games to pull themselves out of their losing culture, and veterans like Onyemata, Davis, and Minkah Fitzpatrick can help them do that.
