Jaylon Johnson’s season has gone from contract-year talk to damage control in a hurry.
Back in August, the Bears cornerback made his thinking plain. “This is definitely a contract year,” Johnson said, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
“We all know with the cap hit and all that stuff. It’s definitely a contract year for me.
At the end of the day, whether that’s here, somewhere else, I’ve gotta put it on tape that I’m still a top guy in this league.”
On paper, Johnson is still under contract through 2027. In reality, that $25 million cap hit is hard to ignore, and a restructure or extension would make sense at some point. After his breakout 2023 season, Chicago handed him a four-year, $76 million extension, so framing this year the way he did was hardly out of line.
The problem is the play hasn’t matched the words.
Through eight games, Johnson has a 38.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranks 97th out of 102 qualifying cornerbacks entering Week 9. He’s also giving up the worst numbers of his career in several key areas: a 124.3 passer rating allowed, 13.0 yards per target and a 73.7 completion percentage. Add in nine missed tackles, and it’s been a rough stretch all around.
There’s at least a fair question about whether he’s still dealing with the effects of last year’s major groin injury. But he hasn’t appeared on the injury report, and he’s played at least 95 percent of the defensive snaps in seven games, so the Bears have been getting him on the field.
At this point, though, the simplest read may be the most uncomfortable one: this might just be where Johnson is right now.
Chicago’s response at cornerback could tell the rest of the story. The Bears should be active in that market before the trade deadline next Tuesday afternoon, and the way Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson have played, one or both could be pushed down the depth chart by an outside addition.
Johnson has to know the pressure is building. If his level of play doesn’t turn quickly, a benching or replacement is very much on the table. A recent Instagram post from him only added to the sense that he understands the heat, even if reading too much into social media is always risky.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s the Week 10 bye. If Johnson isn’t fully healthy, that break could help.
But the Bears return after the trade deadline, and a demotion could already be waiting. By then, he may be running out of time to show he belongs in the role he expected to hold this season.
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