Armed with an 8-3 record, the Chicago Bears are sitting atop the NFC North for another week after Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears’ turnaround from worst to first has come from several contributors and there are some players that have had their own revival during the course of the season.
One of the players that has had a resurgence is cornerback Nahshon Wright. A former second-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys who was cast off by the Minnesota Vikings this spring, Wright has become a key member of the Bears’ secondary and it showed on Sunday, logging six total tackles and an interception against the Steelers.
While Wright’s emergence has been a welcome development, it also creates a dilemma that could not only affect the Bears’ playoff push, but also their secondary for the 2026 season.
Nahshon Wright is Complicating the Bears CB Room
The Bears’ cornerback room has been a fluid situation this year, but there are not enough roster spots to give everyone adequate playing time. Wright could find that out in the near future as Jaylon Johnson is expected to be activated from injured reserve as soon as Friday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles and Kyler Gordon is also expected to return soon as he works his way back from a groin injury.
With Tyrique Stevenson also in the fold, it may be hard for the Bears to find snaps for Wright going forward. While Stevenson’s play could validate a benching, it also is hard to justify considering the long-term ramifications with Wright set to become a free agent at the end of the year.
Wright’s next contract will be an interesting conversation in the spring. Over The Cap has valued his performance at $5.7 this season and while it sounds like a reasonable price, Chicago may not be able to afford it with just over $6 million in projected cap space for next season. Also, there's room for that projection to go way up, especially if he keeps playing like this down the stretch, or if multiple teams get in a bidding war for his services.
There’s also the possibility that Wright is having a fluke season. Before his breakout in Chicago, Wright was on track to be a bust and didn’t log a single defensive snap with the Vikings last year. In three years with the Cowboys, Wright’s previous career high was 128 snaps with an overall rating of 51.8 according to Pro Football Focus.
The Bears could look at Wright and use him as an example of how the culture has turned things around. But they also could look at him as a short-term relationship, allowing him to walk next spring and picking up a comp pick in the process.
And of course, Chicago may want to retain Wright, believing his 2025 campaign is only a sign of things to come. But there's hurdles in the way of that possibility as well, making this a true conundrum for Ben Johnson and co.