Jets GM Joe Douglas has found some defensive end help.
The Texans have traded DE Shaq Lawson to the Jets in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round pick. New York has three sixth-rounders for next year, but are dealing away the one they got last year when they sent Jordan Willis to the 49ers.
Lawson is due $8.9 million for this season. He has two more years left on his deal, though they are voidable.
With Carl Lawson and Vinny Curry lost for the season, the Jets knew they had to scour the trade and free agent markets to find a replacement. Lawson, a former first-round pick by the Buffalo Bills back in 2016, was the guy.
After four seasons with the Bills, Buffalo declined his fifth-year option and he signed with the Miami Dolphins for the 2020 campaign. Signing a three-year, $30 million deal, he had four sacks in 14 games.
The Texans, then, traded for him in March 2021. But now he’s on the move again.
Lawson hasn’t reached his full potential as a first-rounder coming out of Clemson, so Saleh & Co. could help him get to that point. They will also hope he could tap into it given their pass rush situation off the edge entering Week 1 in two weeks.