Malachi Corley’s disastrous Jets tenure somehow looks even worse now

If you thought your last breakup was ugly, you may be right, but the football world is home to the ugliest breakups, and Malachi Corley’s recent release from the New York Jets is currently taking the cake.

What went down between Micah Parsons and the Cowboys was messy, but the saga between the former third-round pick and Gang Green has just added another chapter.

Just 16 months ago, the Jets traded up to select the former Western Kentucky star with the 65th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and now Corley isn’t even on an active NFL roster. Many should be asking “what went wrong?”, but a more fitting question would be “did anything go right?”

The early returns suggest it hasn’t. Corley amassed just three receptions as a rookie, and his most notable moment was a Halloween night blunder that perfectly encapsulates his time with the Jets.

He had the same number of jersey numbers as receptions, and SNY’s Connor Hughes shed light on what happened on a recent episode of Final Jets Drive.

Malachi Corley's NFL future in doubt after disastrous Jets stint

Hughes pointed to a lack of true buy-in to earn his place in the NFL, mentioning the Jets wanted to utilize the “YAC King” more creatively last season, but he wasn’t putting in the effort to learn different positions in order to do so.

They also wanted to utilize him on special teams, but Corley refused, reportedly insisting that he's a wide receiver and that he "doesn't play special teams."

It got so bad to the point where he skipped a special teams meeting, and the team had to sit him down to discuss the problem. After fighting so hard to make the NFL, not making the most of your opportunity to succeed in the league is doing yourself a disservice. 

And even with a new regime in town, he did little to curry favor. After a pitiful summer, there was a reason that undrafted free agents Quentin Skinner, Brandon Smith, and Jamaal Pritchett lapped him on the depth chart this summer, and he was never really expected to make Aaron Glenn’s final roster.

The Jets have seen this sort of story play out before. Both Denzel Mims and Elijah Moore dealt with similar issues after being Day 2 picks by New York, but Corley’s short stint in green and white was by far the most tumultuous. 

By refusing to embrace special teams and showing little urgency to expand his offensive role, he effectively wrote his own ticket out of Florham Park. Draft busts are common in this business, whether it be situation, lack of talent, or just straight-up lack of motivation — and this one seems to be all on Corley.

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