Desperately in need of defensive line help, the New York Jets are searching for outside answers.
New York reportedly attempted to find assistance in the form of third-year defensive tackle Jonah Laulu, but the 26-year-old wound up with the Tennessee Titans.
According to Jordan Schultz, the Jets were among six teams to put in waiver claims for the former Las Vegas Raider, along with Tennessee, Indianapolis, New England, Miami, and Houston. Tennessee, currently situated No. 2 in the draft order, had the highest waiver priority, so Laulu landed with Robert Saleh and the Titans.
Laulu was chosen by Las Vegas in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft. The Oklahoma product played in all 34 games for the Raiders over his first two seasons, rising to a 15-game starting role in 2025, when he racked up 51 total tackles, four sacks, and five pass deflections.
In 2026, though, Laulu was relegated to a backup role, playing 32% of the team’s snaps over five appearances. He picked up a half-sack and five tackles.
Laulu was a healthy scratch in the team’s Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Las Vegas later waived him to make room for wide receiver Dont’e Thornton, who was activated off injured reserve.
With multiple injuries to their defensive line, the Jets worked out three defensive tackles on Tuesday: Amari McNeill, Jordan Miller, and Chris Williams. As of this writing, none have been signed by the team.
New York is still without starting defensive tackle David Onyemata, who went on injured reserve after suffering a groin injury in Week 2 and has since underwent core muscle surgery. Starting edge rusher Joseph Ossai has only played three games this season due to multiple lower-body issues, and is likely to be absent again in Week 8 due to an ankle injury that held him out of Wednesday and Thursday’s practices.
Defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday with a knee issue. Edge rusher David Bailey (groin) also missed both practices.
The Jets’ defensive line has been pushed around as of late, allowing a league-worst 9.2 rushing first downs per game since Week 3. They need as much help as they can get, and the team is clearly making attempts to tread water as the injuries mount.
With the Las Vegas Raiders coming to town in Week 8, the Jets could not possibly ask for a better matchup to get their run defense on track. Over their active four-game losing streak, the Raiders rank last in both rushing yards per game (55.8) and yards per rush attempt (2.8).
Those struggles did not stop Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty from calling out the Jets’ defense for having players who “don’t really want to tackle,” a quote that made the rounds in the Jets’ building throughout the week.
Jeanty may want to focus on his own issues with breaking tackles, as he ranks last among 27 qualified running backs with just 0.094 missed tackles forced per carry this year (10 on 106 carries). If there is a game for him to get on track, though, this is it.
The Jets are looking at Jeanty the same way. Sunday will mark an end to the struggles for one of these sputtering units.
