Minkah Fitzpatrick is coming home and filling a major need for the New York Jets.
Demario Davis also is returning — for a third stint with the team — to help lead a suddenly revamped defense.
Fitzpatrick, a three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl safety who is from New Jersey, is being acquired from the Miami Dolphins, two people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday. One of the people said New York will sign Fitzpatrick to a three-year, $40 million contract extension.
The Jets will send a seventh-round pick in this year's draft to the Dolphins in the deal, according to the people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade can’t become official until the start of the NFL’s new league year on Wednesday.
The deal, first reported by ESPN, should immediately help the Jets, who became the first team in NFL history to go an entire season without an interception.
The Jets further bolstered their defense, which ranked 31st in points allowed this past season, by agreeing to deals with Davis, defensive tackle David Onyemata and edge rushers Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare.
The 37-year-old Davis, a third-round pick of the Jets in 2012, is back on a two-year contract worth $22 million, with $15 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP. He spent the last eight seasons in New Orleans.
Onyemata is signing a one-year, $10.5 million deal that includes $9.7 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the contract told the AP.
Ossai agreed to a three-year, $36 million contract, with $22.5 million guaranteed, his agency, Athletes First, said on social media.
Enagbare joined the Jets on a one-year deal worth $10 million, a person with knowledge of the contract told the AP.
The 29-year-old Fitzpatrick, who had one year left on his contract with the Dolphins worth a non-guaranteed $15.6 million, was born in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and went to high school in Jersey City — about 25 miles from the Jets' training facility in Florham Park and less than 10 from MetLife Stadium, his new playing home.
It's the second major trade this offseason for the Jets, who are looking to upgrade their defense in coach Aaron Glenn's second season. New York acquired nose tackle T'Vondre Sweat from Tennessee for edge rusher Jermaine Johnson last month.
Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks with three games left in the season and hired Brian Duker in January to oversee the defense, but he said he would call the plays this coming season. Duker and new safeties coach Ryan Slowik both came from Miami's staff and have familiarity with Fitzpatrick.
Safety was an area the Jets were expected to address in free agency, with Malachi Moore — who was solid in 14 starts as a rookie — the only player on the roster with significant playing time. Andre Cisco and Tony Adams, both of whom have been starters, are set to be free agents.
Fitzpatrick has 21 career interceptions, although he had only one in 14 games this past season for the Dolphins.
He was the 11th overall pick by the Dolphins in 2018 out of Alabama, where he helped the Crimson Tide win two national titles. He was traded by Miami two games into his second season to Pittsburgh, where he became one of the top players in the league at his position.
Fitzpatrick spent most of six seasons with the Steelers, making the All-Pro team three times while picking off 18 passes during that time. He became the NFL's highest-paid safety in 2022, when he signed a four-year, $73.6 million extension with the Steelers.
Fitzpatrick was traded back to the Dolphins last June in a blockbuster deal, going to Miami along with a 2027 fifth-round pick for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and a 2027 seventh-rounder.
Davis, who is entering his 15th NFL season, played his four seasons for the Jets before signing with Cleveland in 2016. He returned to New York the following season before signing with New Orleans in 2018 and playing eight seasons for the Saints — including five with Glenn as the defensive backs coach.
Davis, who will assume a much-needed leadership role on New York’s defense, has more than 1,500 career tackles and 45 sacks. He was an All-Pro pick in 2019 and has been selected for two Pro Bowls.
“He's probably one of the best leaders that I've ever been around,” Glenn said of Davis before the Jets played the Saints in December. “Nothing but respect for him. I love the player and I love what he brings to the table. ... He's A1 in my book.”
Onyemata, a native of Nigeria who played his college ball in Canada, was a fourth-round pick of the Saints in 2016 and knows Glenn from his time in New Orleans. He played the last three years in Atlanta and has 31 career sacks and 401 tackles.
Ossai, who had five sacks in each of the last two seasons for Cincinnati, was a third-round pick of the Bengals out of Texas in 2021.
Enagbare was a fifth-rounder out of South Carolina in 2022. He started 21 of the 68 games in which he played for the Packers and had 11 1/2 sacks, including a career-high 4 1/2 in 2024.
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds and Alanis Thames contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai (58) in action during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Nov. 27, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, file)
FILE - New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis works during the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Jan. 4, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Danny Karnik, file)
FILE - Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick runs onto the field during player introductions before an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Nov. 9, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray)
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber launched a feature Monday to allow both women riders and drivers across the U.S. to be matched with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program aimed at addressing concerns about the safety of its ride-hailing platform.
The new feature is being rolled out nationwide despite an ongoing class action lawsuit against the policy in California, filed by Uber drivers who argue that it discriminates against men. Rival ride-hailing company Lyft is facing a discrimination lawsuit over a similar offering that it introduced nationwide in 2024.
Uber's feature, announced in a blog post, allows women to request a female driver through an option on the app called “Women Drivers.” Passengers can opt for another ride if the wait for a woman is too long, and they can also reserve a trip with a woman driver in advance. A third option allows female users to set a preference for a woman driver in their app settings, which would increase the chances of being matched with a female driver but doesn't guarantee it. Uber also allow teen account users to request women drivers.
Uber's women drivers can set the app's preferences to request trips with female riders, and they can turn off that preference at anytime.
Uber, based in San Francisco, says about one-fifth of its drivers in the U.S. are women, thought the ratio varies by city.
Two California Uber drivers filed a class-action lawsuit against Uber in November, arguing that by potentially giving female drivers access to a wider pool of passengers, the new feature violates California’s Unruh Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by business enterprises. The lawsuit also argues that Uber’s policy “reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women.”
Uber filed a motion to compel arbitration in the case, citing an agreement the plaintiffs signed when joining the app as drivers. In the motion, Uber disputed that its new feature violates the Unruh Act, saying it “serves a strong and recognized public policy interest in enhancing safety.”
Anne Olivarius, co-founder of the law firm McAllister Olivarius who specializes in sex discrimination and sexual harassment cases, said she believes Uber and Lyft have a strong case against discrimination litigation because the features address an urgent business need to protect clients.
“Lowering a client's risk of rape — is that a business necessity? I would argue that it is a business necessity,” Olivarius said.
Uber piloted the “Women Preferences” feature in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit last summer and expanded it to 26 U.S. cities in November. The company first launched a version of the feature in Saudi Arabia in 2019 following the country's landmark law granting women the right to drive. It now offers similar options in 40 other countries, including Canada and Mexico.
Both Uber and Lyft have faced thousands of reports of sexual assaults over the years from both passengers and drivers. In February, federal jury found Uber to be legally responsible in a 2023 case of sexual assault and the company was ordered to pay $8.5 million to an Arizona woman who said she was raped by one of its drivers.
Uber maintains that because its drivers are contractors, it’s not liable for their misconduct. But Uber says it has taken multiple steps to improve safety, including teaming up with Lyft in 2021 to create a database of drivers ousted for complaints over sexual assault and other crimes.
Melody Flores, a single mother who drivers for Uber overnight in San Francisco so that she can care for her 4-year-old daughter during the day, said she almost exclusively uses the Women Preference option and participates in ads promoting the feature.
Flores, 41, said she frequently dealt with drunken male passengers who would make lewd comments. Now, she mostly picks up women coming out of late shifts at hospitals or restaurants or leaving parties. She said business has picked up, in part because she feels more comfortable driving into neighborhoods that once made her nervous.
“Especially when you work overnight, it's been nice to have that feature,” Flores said.
Sergio Avedian, who drives for Uber and Lyft and is a senior contributor to The RideShare Guy, a popular blog for drivers, said he thinks the feature is a good idea but he is skeptical that it will be effective in practice because of how few women drivers there are, especially during overnight hours.
“Are you going to sit there in front of the bar and wait an extra 20 minutes to get matched to a woman?” Avedian said. “For the riders, it's mostly about how fast can you get here and how much is it?”
Uber said it hopes the Women Preferences option will attract more female drivers to its platform, and has launched a media campaign featuring star athletes including Alex Morgan and Jordan Chiles to promote it.
Unlike Lyft's Women+Connect, Uber's feature is not open to riders or drivers who identify as nonbinary. For drivers, Uber said the company relies on the gender listed on their driver's licenses, meaning that for transgender women, their ability to use the feature may depend on whether their state allows them to change their gender identification on documents.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, Uber said “we consulted with various women’s safety organizations and LGBTQ+ groups while designing this feature and determined that it is not the best way to serve non-binary riders or drivers.”
The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE - An Uber sign is displayed at the company's headquarters, in San Francisco, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - In this March 15, 2017, file photo, a sign marks a pickup point for the Uber car service at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
