There will be tons of speculation over what’s happening at Halas Hall between cornerback Jaylon Johnson and the Chicago Bears. News broke late Monday night that the team granted the 24-year-old permission to seek a trade. This is the same scenario that unfolded last year with Roquan Smith. There could be any number of reasons why Johnson took this approach. The most likely is that the two sides are far apart in negotiations for a contract extension. Johnson has said he wants to be compensated like one of the top guys in the sport. GM Ryan Poles may feel that’s too steep for a player with three career interceptions.
However, there might be a subtle bit of maneuvering with this decision. The Bears may be using these “trade discussions” in the same manner as the transitional tag. For those who don’t remember, Kyle Fuller was set to become a free agent in 2018. The Bears placed that tag on him, which allowed other teams to negotiate a contract with him but gave Chicago a chance to match the best price Fuller could find. Once he accepted an offer from Green Bay, the Bears did indeed match it.
Mike Mulligan of 670 The Score believes no team will trade for Johnson without having some semblance of a contract extension in place. So basically, the Bears told him to find a deal from someone else, and they’d be willing to match it.
This allows Jaylon Johnson to control his situation.
It’s up to him to find a deal he can live with. Granted, there isn’t much time. The deadline ends at 4:00 CST time today. So he and his new agent will be busy on the phone all morning and early afternoon. He must find an interested team and engage them in contract talks. If they throw him a number he likes, he can relay that to Poles. If the Bears GM is fine with it, then the two sides finally have the foundation of a deal. Should the team balk, the discussion shifts to compensation for a trade.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
It isn’t clear what Jaylon Johnson seeks in terms of money. The highest-paid cornerbacks in the league make $20-21 million per year. It is possible he wishes to reset the market, becoming the top guy at his position. Chicago likely doesn’t feel he’s worth that, given his limited production and his somewhat iffy track record of health. So rather than continue going in circles, the Bears may have decided to let other teams negotiate for them. It puts the pressure on Johnson to find the deal.
