The Bears passed on a chance to land Joey Porter Jr., and that decision is looking tougher by the day.
Chicago had the opportunity to add the cornerback but opted against making the move before Porter was dealt to the Cowboys for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick. Now, Ben Solak of ESPN says the Bears may be staring at the consequences of that choice.
“I implored the Bears to trade for Joey Porter Jr. in this column last month,” wrote Solak. “He's a Cowboy now, and I'm not sure another corner of his caliber will reach the market. But this secondary (and larger defensive roster) makes it challenging -- if not impossible -- to stack the Bears up as a legitimate contender, even if Caleb Williams picks up where he left off on offense.”
That critique lands because the Bears’ cornerback group has plenty of issues right now. Jaylon Johnson is having his worst stretch at exactly the wrong time.
Tyrique Stevenson is teetering on the edge of a benching in a contract year. And Chicago is leaning on fourth-round rookie Malik Muhammad to handle both the slot and the outside.
The picture gets a little less bleak if Kyler Gordon returns this week. When he’s right, Gordon has been one of the NFL’s top slot corners. The problem is availability: he played only three games last year and hasn’t been healthy this season.
If Gordon can come back and perform like he has when healthy, that changes the math for Chicago in a hurry. Muhammad would no longer have to bounce between slot and outside duties, letting him stay on the perimeter, where he played in college. It would also take the pressure off Stevenson, since Muhammad would not need to slide inside.
That would give the Bears a path to improving both an outside corner spot and the slot, while allowing Cam Lewis to stay in a depth safety role, which would help that unit too. From there, the biggest swing factor is still Johnson. His dip in play has been one of the more surprising developments for Chicago.
Maybe the moving parts around him are part of it. Maybe he just needs a few weeks to settle back in.
Either way, the Bears need him to find his level again. If he does, passing on Porter will look a lot easier to explain.
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