Jets were right (and everyone was wrong) about their biggest free-agent signing

The New York Jets caught endless heat when they handed Brandon Stephens a three-year, $36 million contract in March, and it wasn't hard to see why. Analysts hated it. Fans hated it.

Even neutral observers couldn’t understand how one of the most targeted, and candidly one of the least worst, cornerbacks in football somehow landed the longest free-agent deal the Jets gave out this offseason.

Stephens had talent, sure, but his Baltimore Ravens tape was littered with maddening inconsistency. It looked like an overpay the moment it was announced. Nine months later, the Jets look brilliant.

That supposedly head-scratching gamble has turned into arguably the biggest win for this new regime. Stephens has managed to transform his game under head coach Aaron Glenn, and the entire Jets coaching staff deserves credit for his turnaround.

Week 13 was just the latest example of his growth as a player, and at this point, it’s impossible to deny that the Jets were right — and everyone else was wrong

The Jets were right about Brandon Stephens

Stephens was the Jets’ highest-graded defender by Pro Football Focus in Sunday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, earning a 73.4 PFF grade while allowing just one catch for four yards on four targets. It’s been that kind of year for the SMU product.

His 74.7 overall PFF grade ranks eighth among 84 qualified NFL cornerbacks (min. 385 snaps), and since Week 4, he’s been even better, as only Tampa Bay’s Jamel Dean has a higher grade among all qualifying corners than Stephens’ 79.7.

He’s been physical and one of the league’s most reliable tacklers on the boundary. Stephens leads all NFL cornerbacks with 16 run stops since Week 4, two more than any other player at his position in that span.

Stephens has now posted a single-game PFF coverage grade of 76.0 or higher five times in his NFL career. Four of them have come this season, including this past Sunday.

This is exactly what the Jets saw in him. They saw a cornerback who was often in position in Baltimore but couldn’t finish plays. They believed coaching could clean that up. They believed his physicality, length, and tackling would translate. They believed his flaws were fixable.

And, as it turns out, they were right. Stephens is finally finding the ball, winning at the catch point, and playing with the confidence the Ravens never could unlock.

It’s a massive win for Glenn and his staff, who have now taken a much-maligned veteran and turned him into one of the best players on the roster. And with Stephens, Azareye’h Thomas, and Jarvis Brownlee all under contract, the Jets have a promising cornerback trio heading into 2026, even after trading away Sauce Gardner.

What once felt like the Jets’ most questionable offseason move is now arguably their most impressive. It turns out the Jets didn’t overpay for an inconsistent cornerback. They bought into a player they knew they could fix, and they were absolutely right.