Jaylon Johnson Is ‘Believer' That Justin Fields Is Bears' Franchise QB

Johnson 'believer' that Fields is undoubtedly Bears' franchise QB originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

PHOENIX -- As a star cornerback, Jaylon Johnson is always aware of what's going on around him, both on and off the field.

Johnson has heard the chatter surrounding the Bears' upcoming offseason and the conversation or debate about whether or not Justin Fields is the franchise quarterback the Bears need to take the next step toward contention.

The Bears' star cornerback has witnessed Fields' growth, sees how much he wants to be great, and has no doubt Chicago has found the signal-caller it has been searching to find for decades.

“Honestly, I’m very pleased," Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago at Super Bowl XVII's Radio Row on Wednesday. "I’m a believer. I see what he does in practice. I see what he does in the games. I have a different belief, a different faith in him, and I feel like his trajectory is only going up. I feel like it’s never been a matter of his physical attributes, people saying he can’t throw or he’s just a runner. It’s always something that’s said around him. I feel for that type of scrutiny, but I believe in him wholeheartedly. I feel like if we get the right pieces around him, there’s not anything he won’t be able to do.

“100 percent confidence in him as the guy.”

Fields is only part of the Johnson is bullish on the Bears' future. The third-year cornerback knows the assets available to general manager Ryan Poles this offseason. With around $100 million in salary cap space and the No. 1 overall pick, Johnson sees the Bears trending in the right direction after a full-scale teardown.

“I feel like, for me, I’m very confident," Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago about the Bears' trajectory. "I feel like we got a lot of very good core pieces. Now we have opportunities to get guys who support that. You mention the money, the picks. I feel like even the picks we had, our last rookie class was a really good rookie class.

"I feel like we definitely have the pieces to keep building and moving in the right direction. It’s just on us as leaders to keep the culture what the culture is, keep building the culture to what we want it to be and just find a way, find a formula to win ball games.”

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Fields, Johnson, Eddie Jackson, Darnell Mooney, and rookies Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon are expected to be the foundation of general manager Ryan Poles' rebuild.

Having a presumed franchise quarterback in Fields gives Johnson and those in Halas Hall belief that the Bears' rebuild can accelerate. But Johnson also knows that the 23-year-old quarterback can't do it all himself, which is where Poles and the Bears' mountain of salary cap space comes in.

"Bring in some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball," Johnson told NBC Sports Chicago when asked what he wanted the Bears to do in the offseason. "Definitely, it depends who they want to draft, but definitely bring in some guys who have played at a high level in this league that can add some immediate value to us."

The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are the focus of the football world this week in Arizona. But when the confetti drops Sunday and a Super Bowl champion is crowned, the attention will shift to the Bears, who have the assets to control the direction of the offseason.

"It'll be exciting," Johnson said.

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