Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Is the Bears’ cornerback position more of an issue than we thought?

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed the Bears' cornerback situation.

Rahimi Harrison Grody. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes. Sometimes we cry.

Sometimes we laugh. Like, this is perfect. If you wanted a high chance of a drink spilled all over the studio, we are definitely repeated. Middays 10 to 2. Maybe we're the show for you. On 1043, the score. See, there it is. Pitbull tells you.

which hotels he stays at, all of them. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, The Score, and this is NFL negotiation period day. It starts in just under 15 minutes, about 14 and change, to be exact, 13 and change. So before 11 o'clock, we're also trying to address which positions need attention for the bears. And that's why it surprised me

to hear Brad Biggs this morning on with Mullen Haw, ask about cornerback. because with Jalen Johnson playing under an extension, Kyla Gordon playing under an extension, and theoretically those two being in a physically better place than they were last season, and then also just having backups, as opposed to say safety where nobody's under contract right now,

I did not think of corner as something the bears needed to address. It's not high on my list. It may not be high on a list, and I understand it, because hey, we're the station that, been on that Max Anisa train. We've been the last four seasons now. It's been what's your biggest concern about the Bears? It's edge rusher.

It's getting to the quarterback. It's affecting the opposing quarterback. So I get it as much as anyone. At the same time, I understand the realistic situation of you can never have enough edge rushers and you can never have enough corners, enough people who can affect the passing game. And the depth is important in understanding with free agency. Yes, you've got guys coming back theoretically.

their two starting corners in-house, whether it's Tyreek Stevenson, opposite of Jalen Johnson, or go down the list. But I think it is a concern because you've got to have the depth. Last year, if nothing else, was very much an example of why depth at that position is so crucial. Yeah, well, and Kyler Gordon needs to be mentioned in that as well. You have two fifth-round picks from different years. I don't know what the story is going to be with Zay Frazier. If he is going to be good to go, but maybe he could be your super. prize Nishon Wright if they don't bring him back. Similar build, big, big, tall, slim guy like Nishon Wright. You have Terrell Smith. That's the other fifth rounder from the same draft as

Tyreek Stevenson. And hopefully, I mean, I'm assuming that we're going to get Jalen Johnson back that was previous to last year. But when he came back, and I get it, he was playing injured and he wasn't himself. He was not very effective as a cornerback for the Bears when he played last year. Well, and that's the thing. Brad Biggs doesn't say this for no reason. He's saying this because if he's thinking about it, therefore we should be too. And that's why on paper it looks like the bears would be okay at corner. The Zay-Frazier thing is a concern. That was a fifth round pick that the bears devoted to him.

And we know that that's a round that has seen some fruit for the bears and other players. Darnel-Money, somebody we talked about last week. That's a good example. You can get value and quality in that round. So when he's brought up, number one, What can we expect out of a guy who missed all of last season, even though Al Harris was very strong and positive about him? Number two, are we overestimating how much ground and what we think that Jalen Johnson and

Kyler Gordon can cover? And then the Bears theoretically should be okay with having some of these guys turn into free agents or at least be up at a certain time. I'm looking in the direction of Tyreeks Stevenson because they're okay with four safeties being up at the same time. So I think what that means is where is Nashan Wright going to go? And is some of the bear's salary cap money that they're freeing up not just to get a safety or two or three or four, but also to perhaps pay what we think might be in the neighborhood of five to seven million that's been estimated for what Nashan Wright could get after the season he had?

It's crazy to me because when you talk about Nashan Wright specifically and the fact that they had him on what, a million dollar deal this past season, the idea that he would get this 700% increase in salary and you'd be the ones willing to pay it. Understanding that that's almost saying, hey, we're going to put way more money into secondary compared to defensive line where you told us you were okay. Now, if the injuries are the same, guys being out for the season, we're talking about a torn Achilles,

we're talking about other injuries to big-time players, DiO Dingbo, then at the same time, shouldn't you expect that Terrell Smith and Zay Frasers to all, stepping in that same way that you're expecting Diodinga to somehow contribute to the defensive line? Well, yeah, that's just it. Like I'm thinking about those guys, all the guys that we've just mentioned, Tyreek Stevenson, Zay Frazier, Terrell Smith, and I'll even get into the Deshaun Wright. The Tyreek Stevenson thing, he has run hot and cold with the bears since he walked in to Hallis Hall. He went he walked, and I covered his first training camp, and it was

assumed he was a second round pick that he would be a starting cornerback in that year and it would be no problem. But then all of a sudden, we're watching out there. And there's Terrell Smith who was drafted in the same class as the fifth rounder who we mentioned. It's like, wow, it appears that there's a real competition between the two. And maybe that was just because Tyreek Stevenson needed somebody to keep them honest out there. Don't get too cocky. And then we know what happened the year previous to this with the debacle in Washington. And even this year, he had a really nice run of games this year. And then towards the end, it felt like they didn't trust him anymore. So it's been a wild tenure for Tyreek Stevenson. So for me to think that they trust him, I would

say they don't. We don't know about Zay Frazier. It looks like he could be a good product, but he obviously was dealing with some issues. And then that brings me back to Terrell Smith, who has been injury-prone. And they, from the beginning, haven't necessarily, even though he's gotten a decent amount of snaps in his career, they have not seen him as a slam dunk starter. And then lastly, Nishon Wright, does this mean that maybe they do feel that they need to pay him or that they're about to lose Nishon Wright to free agents because they don't want to overpay a guy who had his first real year in the NFL and there's no precedent before that. I mean, Nishon Wright was in a starting role when he was on the Cowboys. You know, he was expected to be a part of that defense and Al Harris was there at the time. And then when that changed, he ends up going to Minnesota where he said he just hoped to make the team.

He was a practice squad. Not the practice squad. But Terrell Smith may be the key part of this. He was out for the season last year, suffered that injury very early on. That was preseason. We don't, what was the latest time? We even had a timetable, an update on Terrell Smith when it came to his health and getting back.

Because at the time, don't you remember, we thought that that mark was a big loss. Yeah, huge. Like he felt like Terrell Smith, an up-and-coming player on the verge of maybe being a starter, like he was getting more and more snaps in the place of Tyreek Stevenson. And now I'm kind of like, I'm not really sure where the team is with Terrell Smith. Well, and also Tyreek Stevenson, guys, like when you consider, we were trying to figure out, was there a disciplinary issue that maybe happened that nobody knew about? And that's why he wasn't seeing snaps toward the end of the year, especially in the

playoff games. And remember, he did make a difference in the game once he got in? Yeah, that was peculiar how they started the, I'm trying to remember. exactly which playoff game that was where he didn't... Green Bay. Yeah, it was Green Bay where he doesn't start the game where also at the nickel, Kyler Gordon was not used as much

early, early, early on. But they both came on as the game went on and had more of... You remember Dennis Allen, this is why I was like, is it a disciplinary issue? He came out flatly and said, listen, Tyree Stevenson can be a factor, but Shailon Johnson and Sean Wright are just playing better. And at the

same time, he made sure to include that Stevenson was still quote unquote in the right mindset so he was available and would be a part of plans going forward just a more limited role. Yeah, well we need to figure out if it's even with positions open we need to figure out how much the bears may think that that factors in with cap space but I don't know if it's enough to cover every need they want at the level they need. Join me, Leila Rahimi next Thursday, March 19th from 7 to 9 p.m. an Old Crow Smokehouse in Wrigleyville for the finals of Budlite's official

Mini Hoops Mania. Hang out with Bud Light and the score as one winner heads to Vegas. That's right, Vegas for Mini Hoops, for a chance to win $10,000. That's Thursday, March 19th, starting at 7, and Old Crow in Wrigleyville. Coming up next, the window will be open. So let's open the negotiating window together. We will examine what's going on and also tell you

what are top priorities for the bears are. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, The Score.