Bengals expert tells Jets fans what to expect from Joseph Ossai

What are the Jets getting out of their new pass rusher?

Charlie Baduini

New York Jets edge Joseph Ossai / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

One of the New York Jets' first acquisitions on Day 1 of the legal tampering period was former Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Joseph Ossai.

Edge was one of the biggest needs for the Jets this offseason, even before they traded away Jermaine Johnson to the Tennessee Titans. New York was 31st in sacks last season and desperately needed to overhaul their pass rush room.

They added Ossai and former Green Bay Packers edge Kingsley Enagbare to complement Will McDonald IV, but in all likelihood, they're not done adding to the position and are probably eyeing one up with the No. 2 overall pick.

Regardless, Ossai received the biggest deal of the bunch, agreeing to a reported three-year, $34.5 million deal, which means he should play at least a decent-sized role in 2026. What will he bring to the table as a Jet?

Bengals expert clues Jets fans in on what they're getting from Joseph Ossai

FanSided's Bengals expert Matt Fitzgerald gave a brutally honest analysis of Ossai after watching him the last four years in Cincinnati.

"I not-so-affectionately gave Joseph Ossai the moniker “Waiting for Godot” throughout the season. It’s a theatre reference that plays on the annual notion of Ossai having some sort of massive breakout, only for Bengals fans everywhere to be disappointed when it never arrives. Now to be fair, Ossai actually did flash some dominant play down the stretch — eureka! In Year FOUR! — albeit once the playoffs were all but out of reach. Then, he got hurt right at the end of the year to stymie that momentum. "
Matt Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald went on to refer to Ossai as a "mid" edge defender, which, if we're being 100% honest, is not the end of the world. The Jets didn't sign the former Texas Longhorn to be a superstar.

New York needs competent bodies on the edge, and if anything, that's what Ossai is. They're only paying him an average salary of $11.5 million a year, the 34th-highest for edges across the league.

Even better, there's a built-in out after the second year of the contract, where the Jets can cut Ossai, and save almost $8 million against the cap. Either way, Darren Mougey was not taking a lot of risk when making the deal.

Ossai may not be a superstar edge rusher, but he's still a decent player and expects to play a rotational role on the Jets' defense this season. We'll see how much of an impact he ends up making.

Charlie Baduini

Charlie Baduini covers the New York Jets as a site expert for The Jet Press and FanSided. He is a sports journalist based in Northern New Jersey with a wide variety of sports reporting experience in print and broadcast journalism. Baduini’s byline can also be seen on Heavy and The Sporting News, where he covers several teams across the NFL and NBA. His work has been featured in Heavy, Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and Yardbarker. He also serves as a seasonal intern for ESPN, working as a production assistant for the Heisman Trophy Ceremony every year since 2022. Baduini has been a Jets fan for as long as he can remember, with his family's fandom dating back to the 1960s when his grandfather, Louis, became a season ticket holder. His family has since held on to the tickets to this day. He is an avid fan of the New York Knicks and New York Mets.