There’s an odd situation brewing with the New York Jets and cornerback Nahshon Wright, who enjoyed a breakout season with the Chicago Bears in 2025.
Wright, 28, appeared in all 17 games for the Bears last season and enjoyed a breakout campaign, tallying 80 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 5 interceptions.
However, general manager Ryan Poles decided to let him hit the open market, to which the Jets decided to hand Wright a one-year deal worth up to $5.5 million. Now, fast-forward to Week 4, and Wright has only appeared in a handful of special-teams snaps, with no snaps on defense, and was a healthy scratch for the game against Chicago.
But why?
Former Bears CB Nahshon Wright Misused By Jets, Demoted For Matchup
It’s not like the Jets are stacked at the cornerback position. Sauce Gardner is gone, and the two starting corners are Brandon Stephens and rookie Azareye’h Thomas. Outside of those two, it would look like Nahshon Wright is the best option, but the Jets seemingly signed him with no plan in place.
Before the Bears’ matchup with the Jets, Wright was seen walking around Soldier Field with defensive backs coach Al Harris, the man behind his success last season.
If the Jets don’t want to use him, they should just let him go so Chicago can bring him back. If anyone can get the most use from Wright, it’s Al Harris.
As of now, the Jets have yet to comment on their plan for Wright, and it’s a mystery why he hasn’t seen any snaps on defense yet.
Bears Emerging Rookie Cornerback
The Bears replaced Nahshon Wright with fourth-round pick Malik Muhammad, who’s been one of the NFL’s top CBs through three weeks despite being a rookie.
“He’s gone out and executed when he’s been called on to go out and execute,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “Quite frankly, we’re in a next-man-up business and Tyrique missed the early part of the week. That gave Malik an opportunity to step in there and play.”
In three games, Muhammad has only allowed five completions on 12 targets for 76 yards, zero touchdowns, with one interception, one sack, and just a 28.5 passer rating allowed.
Ben Johnson also had some words on the rookie, saying, “He’s a sticky player. He continues to get better every single game, every single practice. We had a couple communication errors last week that we got to clean up, but he’s going to learn from that and he’s going to continue to get better. I think we’re really pleased through three games where he’s at, being able to contribute to our defense and our team in general. He’s a competitor and we really like where he’s at right now. He’s on an upward trajectory.”
It’s unlikely that the Jets give up on Wright early in his one-year deal, but the Bears are doing just fine with Muhammad.
Former Bears Breakout Corner Misused By Jets, Demoted For Matchup