New York Jets fans were pretty excited this offseason when the team signed Pro Bowl Chicago Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright.
However, it has been a massive disappointment this year. Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said it would be “surprising” if he were still on the Jets’ roster post-NFL trade deadline on November 10.
“At this point, it would be surprising if he’s still on the roster after the deadline. The Jets signed Wright because of his propensity for forcing turnovers (five interceptions) last year. He competed with Azareye’h Thomas in camp for a starting spot and lost out, in part due to missing time with an injury. He hasn’t played a single defensive snap this season and has often been a healthy scratch. Would the Bears want him back?” Rosenblatt asked.
A Bears Reunion Would Make Sense
It’s hard to understand what went wrong with Wright and the Jets.
During free agency, the Jets signed Wright to a one-year $3.5 million guaranteed contract that had a maximum value of $5.5 million.
It was widely viewed as a great bargain for a talented player. Wright, 28, is listed at 6-foot-4 and weighs 190 pounds.
Last year he had a breakout campaign with the Bears. He appeared in 17 games and made 16 starts. With those opportunities, Wright collected five interceptions, 11 pass deflections, forced two fumbles, had three fumble recoveries, totaled 80 tackles, and had three tackles for loss.
This season he hasn’t found anywhere near the same success. Quite frankly, his biggest challenge has been even getting on the field. In 2026, Wright has only appeared in three games and hasn’t made a start. According to Pro-Football-Reference, he hasn’t played a single snap on defense this year.
For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked in New York, but it sure worked in Chicago.
Former NFL player and longtime analyst Bucky Brooks joined me on “Boy Green Daily” during the offseason and explained how the Bears unlocked him.
“You have to understand Aaron Glenn and Dennis Allen, the defensive cooridator for the Chicago Bears, not only did they work together in New Orleans running the same defense, but they are teammates going back to their college days at Texas A&M,” Brooks revealed to me on the podcast.
“So Aaron Glenn knows exactly what was asked of Nahshon Wright. So he is likely going to ask him to do the same things that he did successfully in Chicago. That is really important backstory when you think about why would he want to go to New York? Why would he play there? It’s going to be the same system, he is going to be asked to do the same things, and he should have a lot of success because they think and view the game in similar lenses,” Brooks added.
Of course, those things didn’t translate, but why not send him back to Chicago, where he had that success?
Cryptic Post
Wright took to social media on Tuesday, October 27, and posted a Statue of Liberty emoji.
When you Google what the Statue of Liberty emoji means, one of the first words that comes up is “Freedom.”
Perhaps this is Wright’s way of subtley suggesting he would like a change of scenery ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
Wright is only signed to a one-year deal. You might as well try to get anything for him because that’s better than losing him for nothing next offseason.
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