As the offseason gets underway, the Chicago Bears have several free agents on both sides of the ball that general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson must decide whether those players are part of the plan going forward in the Windy City.
One of those free agents is veteran cornerback Nashon Wright. Wright was picked up in free agency after getting cut by the Minnesota Vikings this past offseason. When the veteran was signed, the hope was that he would give the Bears some nice depth in the secondary in case of injury.
However, Wright shattered all expectations that the Bears might’ve had for him, as he turned himself into a starting-caliber cornerback and Pro Bowler.
The 6-foot-4 defensive back led the league with eight takeaways, including five interceptions. Wright gave up his fair share of touchdowns (8) and yards (800), but the Bears wouldn’t have made the playoffs without his contributions. That being said, the Bears would love to re-sign him, but his calculated market value is a three-year, $50 million deal ($16.7 average annual salary), per Spotrac.
The price tag might be too rich for the Bears, who have guys they must sign. But it might not be an issue for the Atlanta Falcons, who could be in the market for another starting cornerback in the offseason.
Nashon Wright Could Become Prime Target for Falcons in Free Agency
According to OverTheCap.com, the Falcons are projected to have $17.4 million in cap space. That isn’t a lot compared to other teams in the league, such as the Tennessee Titans ($93.5 million) and the Las Vegas Raiders ($81.3 million).
However, those projections could go up when the official base salary cap is released before the start of free agency.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich could use a playmaker like Wright to play alongside A.J. Terrell to help generate turnovers. This season, Atlanta was ranked eighth in takeaways (23) and seventh in interceptions (16).
Those aren’t bad numbers, but as Wright and the Bears showed this season, you can never have too many takeaways. Surprisingly, Terrell didn’t have a single interception, but you can’t blame teams for not throwing towards his way.
Instead, teams went after Mike Hughes, who posted seven pass deflections and an interception. However, Hughes gave up five receiving touchdowns and 13.0 receiving yards per reception allowed.
Hughes just signed a three-year, $18 million contract last year with the Falcons, so he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
But one could argue that Wright could be the perfect piece to add to Atlanta’s secondary, which has Terrell and two playmaking rookie safeties in Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman Jr. If Atlanta continues to add to its front seven, teams will think twice about testing a Falcons defense that has a 6-foot-4 cornerback in Wright looming on the perimeter.
Also, before we forget, the Falcons don’t have a first-round pick, so they’ll need to hit a couple of home runs in free agency to offset that loss. Wright could be that first home run, which would hurt the Bears as they’d have to turn back to Tyrique Stevenson at CB2 in 2026.