Brandon Stephens arrived in Florham Park as one of the Jets’ bigger offseason swings in 2025, and a year later the deal looks a lot less reckless than it did at the start.
New York handed Stephens a three-year, $36 million contract after his rough final season in Baltimore, making him the only external addition the Jets signed for more than two years. That price drew plenty of attention right away, especially after he had allowed the second-most receiving yards among cornerbacks in 2024.
Stephens didn’t suddenly become a star in his first season with the Jets, but he did enough to justify the investment more than many expected. He started 16 games, logged 588 coverage snaps, and gave up 47 completions on 70 targets for 509 yards, which came out to 0.87 yards per coverage snap. That ranked 25th among 71 qualified cornerbacks.
He also cleaned up some of the problems that followed him from Baltimore. Stephens was flagged only three times all season, his lowest total as a full-time starter, and he allowed 164 yards after the catch. Both marks were clear improvements from his final two seasons with the Ravens.
The advanced numbers painted the same picture. His 63.0 Pro Football Focus grade suggested a corner who was solid enough to hold down a job, and that’s basically what he was for most of the year.
But the downside was impossible to ignore. Stephens gave up eight touchdowns in coverage, tied for the second-most among cornerbacks, and he was the only one of the four corners who allowed at least eight touchdowns without recording an interception.
That’s where the concern starts to creep in for 2026. Stephens enters camp as the most established outside cornerback on the roster, which says something about his 2025 season - but it says even more about the state of the Jets’ cornerback room.
His best trait may be his work against the run. Stephens earned a 75.7 PFF run-defense grade last season, seventh among qualified cornerbacks with at least 300 run-defense snaps.
He also finished fourth at the position in run stops. Among the Jets’ corners, that physical edge is part of the identity.
Nahshon Wright, Jarvis Brownlee and Stephens finished second, third and fourth among cornerbacks in run stops, and that doesn’t even include D'Angelo Ponds and Azareye'h Thomas.
That kind of toughness makes Stephens useful. It also makes him a good fit for Aaron Glenn’s defense. He tackles well, he’s steady enough down to down, and he can survive as a starting outside corner.
The issue is that the Jets may need more than that.
There’s a real difference between being a dependable corner on one side and being the guy who gets the opponent’s top receiver every week. Stephens hasn’t shown the ball skills or the week-to-week coverage consistency to make that feel comfortable over a full season.
The touchdowns he allowed last year weren’t a fluke, either. He has real issues at the catch point, and the lack of interceptions means there isn’t much payoff when opponents test him.
If everything broke the right way, Stephens would be the Jets’ clear CB2. That would let him play to his strengths without having to carry the secondary or chase elite receivers all season. But New York doesn’t really have that setup right now.
Ponds may have the highest ceiling in the group. Thomas showed some promise as a rookie.
Wright brings length, experience and ball skills. Even so, none of them are currently ahead of Stephens on the depth chart as camp approaches.
So the formula for Stephens in 2026 is pretty straightforward. He doesn’t need to become a shutdown CB1, because that probably isn’t who he is. He just has to keep the useful parts of his game intact while trimming the mistakes that turned too many drives into touchdowns.
The first thing is obvious: fewer scores allowed in coverage. Eight is simply too many for any starting cornerback.
He also needs to help create takeaways, which is a need for the Jets’ defense as a whole. Stephens has never been a high-volume interception player, but another full season without one would only add pressure on the rest of the secondary.
Beyond that, the Jets can live with the rest. If he keeps tackling, supports the run, and avoids penalties, he’ll still have value.
Stephens already outperformed the expectations that came with him to New York. The challenge now is making sure the Jets don’t ask him to be something he was never built to be.
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