Bears maintain steady rebuilding effort by re-signing key CB Jaylon Johnson

Why the Bears can’t afford to pass on Caleb Williams NFL Draft Combine impressions: How good is the 2024 class of QBs?

Carmen Vitali

NFC North Reporter

The Chicago Bears have locked up yet another defensive cornerstone, signing cornerback Jaylon Johnson to a four-year contract extension two days after franchise-tagging him.

The homegrown talent was drafted under the prior regime in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Since then, he’s steadily ascended into one of the best corners in the league. Chicago is now paying him like it.

Multiple reports indicate the deal encompasses is for four years and $76 million, putting his average annual contract value at $19 million per year. This isn’t the very top of the cornerback market — Green Bay’s Jaire Alexander still owns that spot with an average of $21 million per year — but Johnson’s deal is front loaded with $54 million in guarantees. Johnson will reportedly be paid $60 million in the first three years of the deal.

The 24-year-old Johnson will also be able to hit the open market again before he turns 30.

“We’re extremely excited to be able to keep Jaylon here for the next four years,” general manager Ryan Poles said in a team statement. “He’s an integral part of our defense and his leadership will help our team continue to ascend.”

This means the Bears have now signed long-term deals for players at all three levels of the defense. Last offseason, they got linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in free agency, giving him a four-year deal worth $72 million. With nine games left in the 2023 season, Chicago traded for defensive end Montez Sweat. They signed him to a four-year, $98 million deal days later.

Don’t look now, but the Bears’ rebuild is right on schedule.

Johnson was a major component in the Bears defense’s success this past year, which saw things click into place after the Sweat deal. Toward the back half of the season, the Bears recorded 16 interceptions in just seven games.

Johnson tied for the team lead in interceptions last season with four. Johnson was also the best among Bears’ DBs in passer rating allowed at 50.9. According to PFF, Johnson took a huge leap forward in coverage ability in 2023. He scored a 91.0 coverage grade after being graded at 65.2 in the prior year.

Perhaps being in a contract year matters.

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Even after Johnson’s new contract, the Bears still have the fifth-most cap space in the league with over $57.5 million. Poles has taken a slow, steady approach to building Chicago’s roster in an effort to build for sustainable success. Poles had also not been shy about his desire to keep Johnson in Chicago. The two sides weren’t able to meet in the middle before the franchise-tag deadline but Johnson was the top candidate for the tag without another real suitor. It bought the two sides extra time.

The contract is set up in a way that benefits both parties. Though the tag would have paid Johnson more in 2023 by average annual value, it lacked the stability this deal provides. Johnson is signing up to receive the bulk of it right away and will also be able to test the market or be up for another extension while still in his prime. That’s the kind of long-range thinking that franchise players are built out of — and Chicago hopes Johnson is one for years to come.

The Bears still have enormous flexibility to be movers and shakers in free agency. They also own the first and ninth picks in this year’s draft, lest we forget.

The team released safety Eddie Jackson and will likely be in the market for another safety. There’s quite the free agent market to choose from. Chicago could also go the draft route, even without a current second-round pick.

Outside of that, the Bears don’t have many more needs on defense. They could use a “dude” up front at the three-technique, even though players like Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings did well in their first year in the league. Every team could always use another pass rusher. Chicago also still has a couple of needs on offense — center, for one. It makes all the sense in the world to go after an experienced one, especially if they start over with a rookie quarterback.

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The Bears are likely also going to need tight end reinforcements. They have Cole Kmet locked into a long-term deal but new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron loves multiple-tight-end sets and Kmet is currently the only one on the roster who started for Chicago last season.

Then, of course, there’s the quarterback conundrum. But with the way Poles has built this team and stuck to his plan, Chicago fans should feel good about who they have building this Bears roster.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.