This page may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and sign up, make a deposit, place a wager, or make a trade, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
The Jets signed Briggs to a contract Monday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.
The Jets placed an exclusive rights tender on Briggs in early March, and the 2024 seventh-rounder will play on a league-minimum contract for the upcoming season. He saw his defensive snap count increase over the course of the 2025 regular season. Briggs played at least 65 percent of the Jets' defensive snaps in each of the final seven games of the regular season, and over that span he accumulated 25 tackles (11 solo), including 2.0 sacks. He'll likely work in a rotational role on the defensive line in 2026 behind T'Vondre Sweat and Harrison Phillips.
The Jets exercised their exclusive rights tender on Briggs on Thursday, Eric Allen of the team's official site reports.
New York extended the contract tender to the defensive tackle, meaning Briggs either has to accept the one-year offer or sit out. Briggs grew into a rotational player for New York in 2025, playing 586 defensive snaps and recording 38 tackles (19 solo), including 4.0 sacks, and a forced fumble.
Jets' Jowon Briggs: Strong performance after trade
Rotowire
Briggs had 4.0 sacks among his 38 tackles (19 solo) in 2025.
Briggs was a quiet success story for the Jets after being acquired in a preseason trade with the Browns. The 2024 seventh-round pick appeared in all 17 games for the Jets, starting the last eight after the team traded away Quinnen Williams. Even if the Jets bolster the interior of their defensive line in the offseason, Briggs showed enough ability to generate pressure from the inside to earn at least a rotational role in 2026.
Briggs is headed to New York, where he will likely serve as a reserve defender. The 2024 seventh-round pick is now the second defensive tackle the Jets have added Wednesday, as they also acquired Harrison Phillips in a trade with the Vikings.
The Browns selected Briggs in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 243rd overall.
Briggs began his career at Virginia before breaking out at Cincinnati. He checks in at 313 pounds and run stuffing is his primary skill. Briggs could eventually carve out a role in the Browns' defensive interior.
