Jets' free agency spending spree could save Aaron Glenn's job

We all remember it – the image of Aaron Glenn dancing down the sidelines with a sheepish grin in Week 3, after a Will McDonald IV touchdown off a blocked field goal to give the New York Jets a late lead in an eventual loss.

Well, you can imagine Glenn is doing a similar dance in his office in Florham Park today, after a flurry of signings and trades yesterday that completely reshaped the face of his defense. With his new duties as play-caller, he's like an engineer given a brand-new, expensive, top-of-the-line tool-kit. And after describing playcalling as his "super power" (yes, he really said that), he'll need all the tools he can get.

With a defense that finished 31st in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed, earning the 26th-lowest Pro Football Focus grade, the unit was threatening to derail any hopes of a long-term stay in New York for Glenn.

But that unit no longer exists. That unit is a thing of the past. The Jets' defense looks completely different. And it's just what Glenn needed.

Here comes the Jets' cavalry

Like a Doug Flutie Hail Mary to the sky, Monday's wave of deals represented this regime's last-ditch effort at buying itself some time. That might sound like an overreaction this early into Darren Mougey and Glenn's reign, but I can assure you it's not.

For starters, we all know Woody Johnson is a loose cannon. He's ready to cut a player at the suggestion of his son, Brick, because their Madden rating is too low to keep around. He's liable to do anything when he starts to get desperate, like fire his head coach before the halfway mark of the season or suggest benching his future Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

If you don't think Mougey and Glenn live life on the hot seat, you're crazy. And if you don't think another bad year following a humiliating 3-14 2025 would lead Johnson to make rash decisions, you're even crazier.

Mougey might have more job security than Glenn, which you could argue he deserves. But no one in charge in Florham Park, outside of Johnson himself, is safe these days. So, being active on the market rather than being patient wasn't so much a decision as it was a requirement. The Jets took their defense – their really, really bad defense – and turned it inside out.

It's not one segment of the defense the Jets addressed. No, Mougey revamped the defense at all three levels. In the secondary, he was able to land five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick for just a seventh-round pick from Miami. This included a brand-new $30 million deal for the 29-year-old Jersey-born defensive back, courtesy of the Jets and his ever-enterprising agent, Drew Rosenhaus. The Jets also added some more depth in the secondary by signing former New York Giants safety Dane Belton.

After kicking the day off with a blockbuster in the secondary, Mougey continued the party by upgrading the linebacker position as well, signing Demario Davis to a two-year homecoming deal, bringing the five-time All-Pro linebacker back to where it all started. Davis, a solid coverage linebacker and elite run stuffer, represents a multi-faceted upgrade to a defense that sorely needs both his flexibility and leadership.

Staying in the middle of the field, the Jets took their focus on run-defense to the line of scrimmage, signing 6-foot-4, 300-pound tackle David Onyemata to a one-year deal worth $10.5 million. A behemoth of a man, Onyemata is elite at filling gaps and blowing up run plays. He also provides a little pressure on the quarterback, with a 67.07 average PFF pass-rush grade over his three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.

Staying with the pass-rush, the Jets applied a full-court press on the edge position, bringing in both former Green Bay Packer Kingsley Enagbare and former Cincinnati Bengal Joseph Ossai. With a combined 79 hurries and 18 sacks over the past two seasons, Enagbare and Ossai immediately infuse the defense with an exterior pressure element it desperately needed. If you were wondering how the Jets planned to replace Jermaine Johnson, you don't have to wonder anymore.

Of the six moves, all of them stand to benefit the Jets. It's inconceivable, given the veteran talent that's been added, that there won't be a vast improvement upon last season's efforts. Of all six additions, not one finished last season with a PFF defensive grade below 60 in 2025. These are all professional defenders, proven at the NFL level.

The Lombardi Trophy is not finding its way to Florham Park any time soon. And even the playoffs remain highly unlikely this year. But Glenn just saw his defense go from subpar on its best day to incredibly stout, within the blink of an eye. And now there is absolutely no excuse for mediocrity.

Given the state of the defense going into Monday morning, the concept of Glenn retaining his job was a dubious proposition at best. Now, he has a fighting chance, making him the big winner of the day.