The Jets have signed fifth-round pick DL Tyler Baron, their final selection in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Baron (6-5, 258) was a one-year starter for the Hurricanes and led the team with 5.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. He began his college career at Tennessee and totaled 13.5 sacks, 101 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 1 forced fumble in four seasons with the Volunteers. In 61 college games (28 starts), Baron totaled 139 tackles, 38 tackles for loss, 19 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 pass defenses.
“If you watch him on tape, he actually showed really good pass rush ability,” head coach Aaron Glenn said. “So now it’s just nudging him a little bit more to get him over that hump to be a really good player for us and we expect our player to do that for us.”
Baron grew up in Nashville, TN, and is the youngest of three boys. He started playing football at 5 years old. His father, Patrick Abernathy, played at Tennessee State where he was a teammate with NFL Hall of Fame DE Richard Dent. Abernathy, who coached All-Pro CB Jalen Ramsey at Brentwood Academy, took a job at Tennessee as the football team’s director of player development before he resigned after the 2021 season.
Baron was the second Hurricanes player to be selected by the Jets in the 2025 NFL Draft — LB Kiko Mauigoa was selected in Round 5 with the pick before Baron. Mauigoa and Barron are the first UM players taken by Jets since TE Chris Herndon (2018, Round 4). Other notable Miami players to be drafted by the Green & White include S Burgess Owens (1973, 13th overall), WR Santana Moss (2001, 16th overall) and LB Jonathan Vilma (2004, 12th overall).
Baron, who played DL and TE in high school, has experience playing defensive line with his hand on the ground and as a stand-up rusher.
“I think the strength is really just the versatility in terms of the run game and the value I bring in terms of the pass rush,” he said. “Just being able to work for a bunch of different spots and just be whatever [the coaches] need me to be on that given day.”
He added: “I think you get somebody that can kind of check three to four spots off that 53-man roster. I think with me the biggest thing is just value. Then you get a guy that just wants to be in the Jets building, wants to be a part of everything it means to be a Jet, so I think you get the right type of person and someone that looks forward to being there