One of Robert Saleh‘s 49ers charges will reunite with him in New York. After playing a season with the Raiders, Solomon Thomas is signing with the Jets, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. It’s a one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
A former top-three pick, Thomas spent the first four seasons of his career playing in Saleh’s defense in San Francisco. The inside pass rusher will join a Jets defensive line housing Quinnen Williams and Sheldon Rankins at the D-tackle spots. Thomas will join recent signee D.J. Reed as ex-49er defenders to rejoin Saleh in New York this offseason.
While Thomas has not come especially close to living up to that No. 3 overall draft slot, the Stanford product has been a capable rotation player. Working initially as a defensive end who moved inside frequently, Thomas has 9.5 career sacks. After suffering a torn ACL in a Week 2 game against the Jets in 2020, Thomas signed a one-year deal worth $3.25MM to join the Raiders. He registered 3.5 sacks with Las Vegas last season and forced two fumbles in his D-tackle role. Both were career-high marks for the five-year veteran.
The Jets guaranteed part of Rankins’ 2022 salary this month and picked up Williams’ fifth-year option. Thomas’ history with Saleh certainly points to him playing a key role. Thomas, 26, played 48% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps last season and, despite coming off the ACL tear, did not miss a game.
I gather he’s Foley Fatukasi’s replacement. Good signing.
Fatukasi’s more of a nose tackle, Thomas is more of a rotational late down pass rusher from the inside. Worth a look, but not they same role. Whether it’s someone like Travis Jones at the top of the second or someone like Noah Ellis later on, the Jets can find a Folo replacement in the draft if they still need one.
Ellis is an interesting player. He’s absolutely massive and was originally committed to Mississippi State. I like him and have read he basically has a 5th round grade. If nothing else he can play 2 downs and stuff the run.
Epic bust by lynch and co
This is a bit of a make or break year for the kid. He probably needs to double his sack total from last year to stay in the league.
Totally true. I don’t know if the talent didn’t translate or the the work ethic is not there. Something just hasn’t clicked for him. The dominance just never showed up.