Jaylon Johnson made it clear at the end of the 2023 season that he wanted to stick with the Bears even though he played out the last year of his rookie contract. After a career-year however, it doesn’t sound like Johnson will give the Bears a discount for his services just to stay in Chicago.
"Heart's definitely in Chicago, mind's definitely on the money," Johnson told NFL.com on Saturday at the Pro Bowl. "We'll figure out if we can make them both come together and get something done. I'm looking forward to see what's to come."
The Bears drafted Johnson in the second round of the 2020 draft and he quickly made a name for himself as one of the top coverage corners in the NFL. But Johnson’s takeaway numbers were lacking compared to the elite CBs around the league. So the Bears challenged him at the beginning of the year to force more turnovers.
Johnson delivered with a career-high four interceptions, plus a forced fumble in 14 games. More impressively, Johnson did it without taking a step back in pass coverage. His 33.3 passer rating allowed when targeted led all NFL corners with a minimum of 100 pass coverage snaps. His 50% completion rate allowed tied for seventh-best in the same group. His 20.2 snaps/rec allowed was fifth-best. On the rare occasions that Johnson did give up a catch, he largely limited the damage. Johnson’s 7.8 yards/rec allowed was tied for the 10th-best mark. For his efforts, Johnson was recognized with Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors for the first time in his career.
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"Now everybody knows I can take the ball away," Johnson told NFL.com. "So, I feel like there's really not a box I can't check."
The Bears defense took a huge step forward in 2023, and Johnson’s emergence as an elite corner was a big reason why. Now he wants to help the Bears take the next step out of their rebuild.
“I just couldn’t see myself anywhere else,” Johnson said back in December. “It’s easy to say, oh, you want out of somewhere until you get it and then it’s like, ‘Ah, this may not be quite what I want.’ But I would say for me, I want to stay here and I want to not make that transition now. I feel like we’re building something special, too, especially with the guys in the locker room. I don’t think it’s something I can get anywhere else. I would like to stay and continue to build and make this better, and sh–, I want to win some games and get to the playoffs and make a push with the Chicago name, too.”
Chicago Bears
Bears GM Ryan Poles spoke definitively about Johnson’s future with the team during his year-end press conference, saying he’s “not going to go anywhere and we’ll work through it to get something done.”
Whether that “something” is a long-term extension or a franchise tag remains to be seen.
