The Bears announced their decisions to retain head coach Matt Eberflus on Wednesday, and it certainly looks like they will retain starting cornerback Jaylon Johnson as well.
Johnson is playing in the final year of his rookie deal in 2023, and there was widespread speculation from OTAs during Week 18 about his future. Johnson made it clear early in the year that he wanted to extend the contract, but no agreement was reached. Johnson was so frustrated that he eventually asked for permission to seek a trade, but that deal did not go through either. For a moment, it seemed like the two sides were headed toward a messy divorce, reminiscent of 2022's Roquan Smith drama.
GM Ryan Poles was emphatic when he spoke about the star cornerback's future with the team in his year-end press conference.
“Jaylon isn't going anywhere and we're going to work through him to get something done.”
The Poles even made his ongoing talks with Johnson's camp seem cheerful.
“We have really good communication. The important thing was just to take a break here after the season and then we will start conversations again. I feel really good about this situation.”
Heading into the season, the Bears challenged Johnson to provide more takeaways, and he succeeded. Through the first three seasons of his career, Johnson only had one interception, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery to his name. In 2023 alone, Johnson intercepted four passes and fumbled. He returned one interception for a touchdown as well.
Pair those numbers with his ability to play stick coverage and lock down in pass defense, and you've got a guy worthy of being paid among the league's elite corners. Johnson said in December that even though he knew a payday was coming, he would prefer to make a deal with the Bears. If he gets an offer from the Bears that he feels comfortable signing, he won't need to wait for free agency to open to see if he can get more on the open market.
“I couldn't see myself anywhere else,” Johnson said in December. “It's easy to say, 'Oh, you want to get out of somewhere until you get it,' and then say, 'Oh, this may not be quite what I want.'
“I feel like we're building something special as well, especially with the guys in the locker room. I don't think it's something I can get anywhere else. I want to stay and continue to build and get better at this, and I want to win some games and get to the playoffs and make a push with the Chicago name as well.” .
If contract negotiations don't work out, the Bears still have other options to retain Johnson for the 2024 season. They could use the franchise tag to keep him under team control for another season. According to OverTheCap's tag projections, Johnson would earn $18,410,000 if the Bears go that route.
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