The New York Jets did not trade former Pro Bowl cornerback Nahshon Wright ahead of the Tuesday, November 10 deadline.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic called that decision by the Jets “a mild surprise.”
The Jets signed Wright this past offseason to a one-year $3.5 million contract. Wright, 28, is coming off the best season of his NFL career in 2025.
The former Laney and Oregon State product appeared in 17 games for the Chicago Bears. With those opportunities, Wright collected five interceptions, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and totaled 80 tackles.
Wright signed a one-year prove-it deal in hopes that he could parlay that into a big-money contract in 2027 when he was scheduled to reach free agency again. However, things haven’t worked out that way.
Wright has only appeared in three games with zero starts. The Jets coaching staff has routinely made him a healthy scratch on game day.
Frustration Is Mounting
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared on X that the “expectation” was that Wright would be “traded” at some point ahead of the deadline.
I posted a tweet on X saying, “If the Jets don’t trade Nahshon Wright in the next hour back to the Bears ahead of the deadline, I don’t know what’s going on lol.”
Wright liked that post from his official X account.
He told ESPN’s Rich Cimini that he was “definitely frustrated” with not having a role on defense. At the end of October, Wright had not formally requested a trade from the Jets, but he said that he expressed his feelings to the team about his dissatisfaction.
A Confusing Decision by the Jets
The Jets chose not to trade Will McDonald ahead of the deadline. While I disagree with the decision, I can at least understand their thought process behind it.
McDonald has proven to be a productive player at times during his career: 24.5 sacks, 55 quarterback hits, and 27 tackles for loss. That production hasn’t reared its head this season and most believe it’s because McDonald isn’t a scheme fit with what Aaron Glenn is trying to run.
Glenn isn’t long for New York. So why let him have any say in McDonald’s future with the team? Leave that decision in the hands of the next head coach who will inevitably replace him this offseason. McDonald isn’t a scheme fit in a 3-4, but what if the next coach employs a 4-3? Suddenly, McDonald would be a perfect fit.
McDonald is under contract through the 2027 season. There is a world where keeping him makes sense.
That same logic doesn’t apply to Wright. He is scheduled to be a free agent in 2027. After this experience with the Jets, I doubt he is in any rush to re-sign with the team. If he doesn’t want to sign an extension, the only path the Jets would have to keep him is by using the franchise tag. Of course, that would be silly for the Jets to use on a player they have routinely benched.
So why not trade him? It clearly didn’t work out, and you aren’t using him anyway.
Jets Make Surprising Nahshon Wright Trade Decision at Deadline