In the waning hours before the NFL’s Halloween trade deadline, Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson asked to be traded.
The Bears weren’t close to offering him what he wanted in a contract extension — though general manager Ryan Poles said later the two sides never discussed anything resembling a final offer — and he thought it was best to move on.
Then that didn’t happen, either.
“Nothing I want has happened so far — as contract, trade, anything like that,” he said then.
It was the best thing to ever happen to him. In the eight weeks since the Bears decided to keep him, Johnson has become maybe the best cornerback in football. He has four interceptions and 10 passes defended this season; two and six of them, respectively, have come in the past eight weeks.
He’s become Pro Football Focus’ top-rated overall cornerback and their top coverage corner. That doesn’t happen if Johnson is somewhere else, learning a new defensive scheme on the fly.
In short: he’s made himself a lot of money.
“I’d hope so, yeah,” he said with a smile Wednesday.
The Bears are unlikely to lose Johnson, whose rookie deal expires in March, this offseason; simply giving him the franchise tag would keep him on the roster for another year. A contract extension would keep Johnson, who’s just 24, here through his prime years. While Johnson said on Nov. 1 he wasn’t interested in talking to Poles about one, he might have softened lately, saying he wants to stay in Chicago.
In the last eight weeks, the Bears seem to have fallen in love with Johnson all over again. Coach Matt Eberflus has been critical of him in public at times, dating to his first OTAs —even recently, he criticized Johnson for not following his blockers on an interception return. But minutes after the Bears’ win on Sunday, he praised Johnson unabashedly.
“Jaylon Johnson has done a wonderful job,” he said. “He’s risen to the occasion. He’s really starting to understand the concepts of our defense and the style which we play, and he’s been a heck of a leader, too. I can’t say enough good things about his development and how he’s risen to the occasion this year.”
Johnson said expertise comes with experience.
“Last year was my first year, everybody’s first year being in the system,” he said. “This year, you just get more reps under your belt. … Yeah, there’s some truth to that.”
Johnson understands what each cornerback can and can’t do, cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke said. He knows how to recognize the play-call and route combinations from his own film study.
“He’s really smart — and smart people figure things out. …” Hoke said. “He’s obviously gifted athletically. But he is really smart.”
That’s one reason why the Bears don’t view the development of two rookie cornerbacks — second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson and fifth-round pick Terell Smith — as a threat to Johnson. PFF ranks Smith the 24th-best cornerback in the NFL and Stevenson No. 101.
“I’ve always said you can never have enough pass rushers, and you can never have enough corners,” Eberflus said. “So if you want to keep bringing them on, let’s keep bringing them, right? Those positions are really important in the NFL.”
Every team needs a shutdown corner, though. The Bears have found theirs.
“I’m always just thrilled to see a player have that type of year,” Hoke said. “And to continue. And to have the mindset. I know his mindset now is to keep finishing strong and keep playing really high-level football. I’m really happy for him. I’m just thrilled for him.”
