At his season-ending press conference, Ryan Poles made a bold statement when asked about the contract status of Bears’ four-year CB Jaylon Johnson:
“Jaylon is not going anywhere!”
Ryan Poles during his end-of-year presser
Since then, Poles has been negotiating in good faith with Jaylon’s agent. Johnson signed with Family For Life Sports Agency in 2023.
Johnson declared for the NFL Draft in 2020, foregoing his Senior year at the University of Utah, and has been one of the top defensive backs in the league. Last year, Johnson had his best season for Chicago, earning a trip to the Pro-Bowl. He had 4 interceptions, returning one for a TD against the Las Vegas Raiders. He also recorded one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in 2023.
The franchise tag for a cornerback in 2024 is reported to be $19.802 Million. Placing the franchise tag on Johnson allows extra time to sign Jaylon to a multi-year extension. The Bears would have until July 17th to work out a deal for the All Pro CB. If a deal cannot be agreed to by the mid-July deadline, Jaylon would play the 2024 season under the franchise tag.
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Johnson finished the 2023 season with 31 tackles in addition to his career-high four interceptions. He was also PFF’s highest rated cornerback through Week 17. Johnson ended the year as the second best CB, behind the Jets Sauce Gardner.
News and Notes
As we continue to see what develops for Justin Fields, it is his birthday today. Happy birthday, Justin!!
2 holes filled past 48 hours. IOL and CB. Need to fill 3 holes on D to complete it. 3-tech, DE, and FS are big. Fix that so we can rely on this D and focus on Offense moving forward. Opening free agency will be key to see which holes can be plugged. Would like to see a great move on the D-Line.
Draft seems like we really need a trade down. Still too many holes to fill. Still no clarity on Fields.
Jim jones- thanks bud!! My gut says they sign him to an extension but I’m not sure that’s the right move. He needs to put up back to back seasons with not so many injury issues. IMO
@I dug Plank I don’t mind the $20-ish million for this year so much as the $18+ for 4 years that most think the extension would look like. It’s just something Poles needs to (and does seem to) keep in mind. “Just pay the man” isn’t always the best team building strategy.
Hopefully they can come to a mutual agreement, otherwise he can move on after 2024. Poles has to be mindful of the cap and we still have more holes to fill. This tag is nearly a $20 million hit unless they agree. Like Arnie said, I’d like to see him play a full season
@BearCub30 – I believe it would be for next year and year after since that’s when his contract is, but don’t hold me to it. But in the end no team will sign him to lose those. We would see a sign and trade before that. I would fully expect him to be here. I would also expect them to negotiate a long term deal until July 15ish. Can’t remember the exact cutoff but it’s close to that. We were trying to trade him for a late 1 at the trade deadline. Can’t see a team ponying up 2-1’s.