Over the next few months, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at some of the late season signings who are under contract for 2026, and futures signings after the end of the season. We continue today with cornerback Tre Brown, who is under contract for next year having played for the Jets in the last five games of the season.
The 28-year old Brown is listed at 5’10” and 186 pounds and was a fourth round pick out of Oklahoma in 2021. He started 13 games in four years with Seattle, but missed a lot of time
with injuries. He spent time with the 49ers, Rams and Jets last season. Brown has 82 tackles, eight pass breakups, a sack and two interceptions in his NFL career.
Background
Brown was a four-star high school recruit, who headed to Oklahoma in 2017 and played in a reserve role as a true freshman. He ended the year with 12 tackles and two pass breakups in 14 games.
In 2018, Brown played in 13 games and posted a career-high 58 tackles. He also set career marks with 12 pass breakups, six tackles for loss and two sacks to earn honorable mention all-Big 12 honors. He was also named as an all-Big 12 second-teamer as a kick returner.
2019 saw Brown post 40 tackles, 11 pass breakups and his first career interception. However, 2020 would be his best season as he was a second-team all-Big 12 selection with 31 tackles, six pass breakups and three interceptions in just 10 games.
After sitting out his bowl game, Brown heading into the 2021 draft as a projected mid-to-late round pick and was selected by Seattle in the fourth round.
Injuries limited him to just 11 games in his first two seasons, although he did start three as a rookie. He had 14 tackles and a pass breakup in those two seasons.
In 2023, he started seven times and posted the best numbers of his career with 34 tackles, six pass breakups, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in 15 games.
However, his role was reduced in 2024 as he made just three starts and ended the season with 26 tackles and one pass breakup in 13 games.
Having signed for the 49ers in the offseason, Brown was injured again in preseason and the 49ers put him on injured reserve and later released him. The Rams picked him up and he played five games for them, albeit only on special teams, before being released again.
The Jets signed Brown to their practice squad and elevated him three times before signing him to the active roster for the last two. Having only played special teams in his first four games, he started the last one and recorded eight tackles.
Brown remains under contract with the Jets for 2026.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Brown brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Brown lacks size and has below average length. Despite this, he was drafted by Pete Carroll, who previously had viewed an arm length of 32 inches as a minimum requirement but broke his own rule to bring in DJ Reed and was obviously convinced by Reed’s success it was no longer a pre-requisite.
Browns other measurables are solid. He ran a 4.42 in the pre-draft process with good explosiveness numbers. His bench press was about average for the position but his agility numbers were slightly below average.
Usage
Brown had played as an outside corner throughout his college career and at the NFL level. However, in his recent game with the Jets he started in the slot instead.
Coverage skills
Brown was an effective cover corner in college, as he held opposing passers to a completion percentage of 51 when targeting him. At the NFL level, that’s gone up to 63 percent, which is still reasonable. He did give up 15 yards per catch in 2024, though.
Despite being regarded as a technician and having solid balance and movement skills, there are times where Brown’s technique lets him down badly.
Despite posting a solid time in the 40-yard dash and decent explosiveness numbers, he can get beaten deep because he is slow to accelerate and struggles to recover. However, he is tenacious and competitive when he can stay tight on his man.
Ball skills
Brown’s on-ball numbers were pretty good in college, as he was twice into double figures in terms of pass breakups. He tracks and locates the ball well and has good timing.
Ideally, you’d like to see more interceptions from him. He had four in college and has just two in regular season action at the NFL level. He added one more in preseason action. When he does intercept passes, he is a return threat.
Run defense
Brown is a willing run defender, who comes up aggressively to get in on plays near the line of scrimmage but also plays with decent discipline.
Tackling
Brown has had good production as a tackler over the years and speculation that his short arms could lead to a lot of missed tackles at the pro level has mostly proved unfounded. He will miss one from time to time though.
On this play in college, he showed effort and range to run down a receiver and make a game-preserving, touchdown-saving tackle in a big game for the Sooners.
Physicality
Brown is good in press coverage and effective at slowing his man’s release or re-routing him on his way down the field. However, he can be handsy at times. He has 10 penalties for defensive pass interference, illegal contact or defensive holding at the NFL level, with two more for illegal hands to the face. He also had 14 such penalties, and 17 overall, in his last two college seasons.
Despite being called for a face mask penalty twice, Brown is is generally under control with no penalties for late hits or helmet-to-helmet hits at the NFL level.
Blitzing
It has been rare for Brown to blitz, but he has made some plays over the years, with one NFL sack, some pressures and this safety in college.
If he moves inside permanently, Brown could get to blitz more often and may be quite effective at doing so.
Special teams
Brown has plenty of experience on special teams over the course of his career, including on kickoff coverage, as a punt gunner and in the vice role on the punt return unit.
It was his holding penalty in the latter role that controversially negated an Isaiah Williams touchdown return for the Jets against Jacksonville last month.
Brown has had a few special teams tackles at the NFL level after having nine in college, more than half of which were in his freshman year.
At Oklahoma, he also returned kickoffs and was named as a second-team all-Big 12 selection within that role. His career average was below 22 yards per return though.
Brown has also blocked on the kickoff return units and played on the field goal block unit.
Instincts/Intelligence
Brown can sometimes seem to be half a beat late to react as he can be guilty of peeking into the backfield and his route anticipation is questionable.
However, he has also shown that he can read pre-snap keys and make some nice plays around the line of scrimmage.
He was once penalized for lining up offside.
Attitude
Brown is considered to be a competitor who has a lot of confidence and carries himself like a leader. He was a gameday captain at times with Seattle.
He embraces the challenge of working against elite players and has had a tendency to step up in the biggest games and in clutch situations in the past.
On field discipline hasn’t been a major issue as he has had no unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the NFL and he has no off-field red flags.
Injuries
Brown’s rookie season saw him spend five weeks on injured reserve with a sprained knee and then, when he returned, he had another knee injury. This time, it ended his season and forced him to have knee patella ligament surgery. This kept him sidelined on the PUP list until November in his second season.
It was a heel injury that caused him to be released by the 49ers in preseason, but he was obviously over that by the time he went to the Rams.
Scheme Fit
As noted, Brown started for the first time in the slot in season finale so the Jets may have a plan for him to move there. This definitely wasn’t just a case of there being nobody else available to play in the slot because Ja’Sir Taylor started outside and he has extensive experience inside. It’s therefore clear the Jets at least wanted a look at each of them in these roles.
Brown was a teammate of current Jets offensive lineman Marquis Hayes at Oklahoma and his fellow Jets defensive back Chris Smith with the Rams.
Conclusions
Brown was one of a group of late-season secondary additions who are all in their mid-to-late twenties. It seems clear that New York wanted to get a look at these guys rather than just feed reps and opportunities to struggling rookies like Jordan Clark.
He was a player that had started at the NFL level and had mixed results, with injuries being the main thing that was holding him back from establishing himself as a permanent starter-level player as he entered his prime.
In addition to his remaining untapped potential, Brown’s special teams contributions and versatility could make him a useful candidate to compete for a reserve role or to be carried on the practice squad again as potential cover.
