Chicago PD Season 11: Will Jesse Lee Soffer return as Jay Halstead?

CHICAGO P.D. -- "Equal Justice" Episode 806 -- Pictured: Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead -- (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)
CHICAGO P.D. -- "Equal Justice" Episode 806 -- Pictured: Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead -- (Photo by: Matt Dinerstein/NBC)

Chicago PD Season 10 saw the loss of another OG character. Could we see Jay Halstead return in Chicago PD Season 11 at all?

Within three episodes of Chicago PD Season 10, we lost another OG cast member. Jesse Lee Soffer left the show as Jay Halstead. At first, it sounded like this was a creative and financial decision, but then Soffer spoke out to say that it was also his decision. He wanted to take a risk in his career, feeling like Jay had gone as far as he could in the series.

While an exit is disappointing for fans, the way Jay’s exit happened was even worse. Just as we saw Upstead happen, they were separated. They tried to make things work, but Jay has ghosted Upton, opting to reenlist and extend tours without talking to her about it.

This is a storyline that we’re sure to see continue in Chicago PD Season 11. Could that mean the return of Soffer?

Will Jesse Lee Soffer be in Chicago PD Season 11?

Is there a chance that we could see Jesse Lee Soffer return to the series? Unfortunately, it is unlikely. It looks like the show will continue to bring us this storyline of Upton not being able to get in touch with her husband.

Remember that it turned out that this decision to leave was partly Soffer’s. He would need to want to come back if Jay was going to return. And then there would need to be a storyline there. We can see how the storyline could work, even if it was just to bring closure to his exit. We could see something like when Gabriela Dawson returned in Chicago Fire to bring some closure for Casey.

Soffer has returned to the series since his exit, but it was behind the camera. He returned to direct an episode, and that is something that we could see happen again. We’ll have to see what the plans are once the current strike action has come to an end.

Chicago PD is available to stream on Peacock.