After signing four-year, $76 million contract, Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is ready to win

LAKE FOREST – In late October, Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson asked for permission to seek a trade. For some teams and players, that might have burned a bridge. It could have ended the relationship.

For Johnson, there was too much at stake in Chicago for that to be the case. No trade ultimately emerged at the trade deadline last year. Johnson played the remainder of the 2023 season and finished with Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors.

Last week, he and the Bears agreed to a new four-year, $76 million contract extension that will keep him in Chicago through 2027. The relationship between the team and the player are doing just fine.

“I think, for us, it was just all about timing,” Johnson said. “Of course, we were going through some things and trying to work through it in the middle of the season, and then after that it just turned into focusing on ball.”

Johnson said communication with the Bears remained good throughout the process. As soon as the season ended, the focus became knocking out a new deal “in a timely fashion,” Johnson said. The Bears used the franchise tag on Johnson last week, but that was simply to buy more time for negotiations.

Johnson still has more he wants to prove in Chicago. He had a career-high four interceptions last season, and he wants to build off that. Prior to last season, the biggest knock against him was that he didn’t create enough turnovers. That changed last season with his four picks, plus one forced fumble.

Having been in Chicago through the entire rebuild that general manager Ryan Poles initiated two years ago, Johnson wants to see it through. He wants to see what this team can be when the wins start coming.

“I feel like you have to stand for something,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’ve been losing way too much. I feel like, as competitors, we want to win. I know what we talk about in the locker room, what we talk about in our DB room. I think, like I said, the thirst for wins is there. The thirst for wins is there.”

I feel like you have to stand for something. I feel like we’ve been losing way too much. I feel like, as competitors, we want to win.”

—  Jaylon Johnson, Bears cornerback

The defense under head coach Matt Eberflus improved significantly during the second half of last season. The Bears also invested in a veteran safety to play alongside Johnson in the secondary. On Sunday, the team signed two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard to a two-year, $15 million contract.

With his new deal, Johnson now is one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL. The contract includes $43.8 million in guaranteed money. It also allows the 24-year-old Johnson to potentially hit free agency again when he’s still only 28 years old.

Johnson thanked God and his family during a 20-minute media session at Halas Hall on Monday. In his opening statement, he admitted to seeing a therapist last year because of a sex addiction. He said he shared this because he knows he’s not the only person going through something like that. He also wants fans to know that NFL players are people who go through their own personal difficulties off the field.

“Everybody goes through things, but I feel like people feel like you’ve got to put a mask on, you’ve got to cover it up,” Johnson said. “Like no, it’s OK to go through things, it’s OK to seek help, it’s OK to be vulnerable.”

Johnson said his addiction didn’t affect him or his work.

“In that place of vulnerability, I had a breakthrough,” Johnson said. “I had a breakthrough with myself, and I had a breakthrough on the football field. I wouldn’t say it affected me.”