Solomon Thomas
Current teamTennessee Titans
Number90
PositionDefensive tackle
Birth dateAugust 26, 1995 (age 31)
Birth placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height6 ft
Height in3
Weight lbs285
High schoolCoppell (Coppell, Texas)
CollegeStanford (2014–2016)
Draftyear2017
Draftround1
Draftpick3
Pastteams
StatusActive
Highlights
Statseason2025
Statlabel 1Total tackles
Statvalue 1239
Statlabel 2Sacks
Statvalue 218.5
Statlabel 3Forced fumbles
Statvalue 33
Statlabel 4Fumble recoveries
Statvalue 42
Statlabel 5Pass deflections
Statvalue 56
PfrThomSo00

Solomon Christopher Thomas (born August 26, 1995) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal and was selected third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 NFL draft. He has also played in the NFL for the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys.

Early life

Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 26, 1995. Thomas and his family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was two years old, where he lived for five years.[1] He attended Coppell High School in Coppell, Texas. He had 78 tackles and 12.5 sacks as a senior and 89 tackles with 8.5 sacks as a junior. Thomas was rated as a four-star recruit and was ranked among the top players in his class.[2] He committed to Stanford University to play college football.[3][4]

College career

After redshirting his first year with the Stanford Cardinal in 2014, Thomas played in all 14 games in 2015, starting six, and had 39 total tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss, and 3.5 sacks.[5][6] In recognition of his successful 2015 season, he was named as an honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference selection.[citation needed] In 2016, Thomas played and started all 13 games and had 62 total tackles with 15.0 tackles-for-loss and 8.0 sacks. Thomas was named first team All-Pac-12 and won the Morris Trophy.[7][8] Following the 2016 season, Thomas declared his intentions to enter the 2017 NFL draft.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Stanford, Thomas was projected to be a first round pick by the majority of analysts and scouts.[9] He was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but only chose to participate in the bench press, 40-yard dash, vertical jump, and broad jump. On March 23, 2017, Thomas attended Stanford's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He was ranked the second best defensive end (behind Myles Garrett) by NFLDraftScout.com, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated.[10][11]

San Francisco 49ers

Thomas was drafted third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2017 NFL Draft.[12][13] He became the third consecutive defensive end drafted in the first round by the 49ers, joining Arik Armstead (2015) and DeForest Buckner (2016). The man who drafted Thomas—newly appointed 49ers general manager John Lynch—coincidentally studied alongside Thomas as a mature student while working as a broadcaster for FOX Sports, and counselled Thomas to leave Stanford without knowing he would be in a position to draft him as a member of the 49ers front office the following season.[14]

On July 28, 2017, the 49ers signed Thomas to a fully guaranteed four-year, $28.14 million contract that included a signing bonus of $18.61 million.[15] He played in 14 games as a rookie with 12 starts, recording 41 tackles and three sacks.

On May 1, 2020, the 49ers declined the fifth-year option on Thomas' contract, making him a free agent in 2021.[16] During the 49ers' Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets, Thomas suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the rest of the season.[17][18]

Las Vegas Raiders

Thomas signed a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders on March 19, 2021.[19] He played in all 17 games, recording 34 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles.[20]

New York Jets

On March 30, 2022, Thomas signed with the Jets.[21] He was named a backup defensive tackle behind Quinnen Williams, Sheldon Rankins, and Nathan Shepherd. He played in all 17 games, recording 26 tackles, while playing 33% of snaps.[22]

Thomas re-signed with the Jets on March 18, 2023.[23] He played in 17 games with three starts, recording a career-high five sacks.[24]

Thomas re-signed with the Jets again on March 21, 2024.[25] He finished the 2024 season with 3.5 sacks, 26 tackles, two passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.[26]

Dallas Cowboys

On March 12, 2025, Thomas signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys.[27]

Tennessee Titans

On March 11, 2026, Thomas was traded to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round draft pick.[28]

Career statistics

NFL

Legend
BoldCareer high

Regular season

YearTeamGamesTacklesFumblesInterceptions
GPGSCombSoloAstSacksFFFRYdsTDIntYdsAvgLngTDPD
2017SF1412413473.00100000000
2018SF1613312471.00000000000
2019SF163211562.00000000000
2020SF222020.00000000000
2021LVR1703417173.52000000002
2022NYJ1702613130.50000000000
2023NYJ1733115165.00000000001
2024NYJ1612615113.51100000002
2025DAL80188100.00000000001
Career123342301418918.53200000006

Postseason

YearTeamGamesTacklesFumblesInterceptions
GPGSCombSoloAstSacksFFFRYdsTDIntYdsAvgLngTDPD
2019SF304401.00000000000
2021LVR101100.00000000000
Career405501.00000000000

College

SeasonGamesTacklesTFLSackFF
2015143910.53.50
2016136215.081
Career2710125.511.51

Personal life

Thomas's older sister died by suicide in 2018 at the age of 24. He founded "The Defensive Line", a nonprofit organization aiming to reduce youth suicide.[29]

References

  1. ^ "2017 NFL Draft: San Francisco 49ers select Australian-raised giant Solomon Thomas as third overall pick". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. April 28, 2017. Archived April 28, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. ^ "Solomon Thomas, 2014 Strongside Defensive End, Stanford". Archived December 20, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  3. ^ Mitrosilis, Teddy (February 5, 2014). "Recruit uses live tree, nerd glasses to tell us he's going to Stanford". FOX Sports. Archived September 17, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Solomon Thomas 2014 Strongside Defensive End Stanford". rivals.com. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  5. ^ "Solomon Thomas leading Stanford defensive line through transition". March 3, 2016. Archived December 20, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  6. ^ "Instead of Christian McCaffrey, is Stanford's best player DE Solomon Thomas?". October 20, 2016. Archived December 21, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  7. ^ "McCaffrey, Thomas named first team all-Pac-12 football". November 29, 2016. Archived December 21, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  8. ^ "Stanford's Thomas named Pac-12's Morris Trophy winner". December 14, 2016. Archived December 15, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  9. ^ "Combine Player Profiles – Solomon Thomas". National Football League. Archived May 6, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  10. ^ Jeff Legwold (April 22, 2017). "Ranking the 2017's draft top 100 players". ESPN.com. Archived April 28, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  11. ^ Chris Burke (April 24, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft Rankings: Top by Position". si.com. Archived April 8, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  12. ^ Wesseling, Chris (April 27, 2017). "Niners select Solomon Thomas with third pick". NFL.com. Archived April 28, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  13. ^ Lyles, Harry (April 28, 2017). "Solomon Thomas can be next Michael Bennett for the 49ers". SB Nation. Archived April 28, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  14. ^ "2017 NFL Draft: John Lynch and Solomon Thomas took a Stanford class together". April 27, 2017. Archived October 12, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  15. ^ "Spotrac.com: Solomon Thomas contract". Spotrac.com. Archived April 5, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  16. ^ Shook, Nick (May 1, 2020). "49ers decline fifth-year option on DL Solomon Thomas". NFL.com. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  17. ^ Rapp, Timothy (September 21, 2020). "49ers' Solomon Thomas' Injury Diagnosed as Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest of Season". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  18. ^ "49ers Announce Roster Moves". 49ers.com. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  19. ^ Raiders Public Relations (March 19, 2021). "Raiders sign DT Solomon Thomas". Raiders.com. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  20. ^ "Solomon Thomas 2021 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  21. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (March 30, 2022). "Jets Sign DL Solomon Thomas". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  22. ^ "Solomon Thomas 2022 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  23. ^ Greenberg, Ethan (March 18, 2023). "Jets Re-Sign Solomon Thomas". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  24. ^ "Solomon Thomas 2023 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  25. ^ Pullano, John (March 21, 2024). "DL Solomon Thomas Re-signs with Jets". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
  26. ^ "Solomon Thomas 2024 Game Log". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved 2025-02-03.
  27. ^ Yarrish, Tommy (March 11, 2025). "Cowboys agree to terms with former Jets DT Solomon Thomas". DallasCowboys.com
  28. ^ Walker, Patrik. "Osa Odighizuwa, Solomon Thomas traded by Cowboys". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  29. ^ Mullin, Eric (September 27, 2023). "Jets' Solomon Thomas honors late sister with mission to fight youth suicide". NBC - New York. Retrieved 2024-06-28.