The Chicago Bears place Jaylon Johnson on the IR, ending his season a bit early. This will be an interesting offseason for Johnson because it is the last year of his deal. However, this is a front office that did not draft him.
So, they have a limited sample size to work with him, but have to make a huge decision before next season. If he enters the year without a deal, it is hard to see him staying other than a franchise tag. The market tends to heat up around players who have chances to get away.
With that in mind, the team will at least be having discussions. Do they see him in their long-term plans, or do they want their own people?
Should Chicago Bears extend Jaylon Johnson?
Johnson had a pretty solid season. His last game did not end on a positive note, but he faced off with A.J. Brown. Brown burnt him, but Johnson also held his own for the majority of the game. The reality is that the lack of pass rush makes it so hard for cornerbacks to last with big names such as Brown.
Beyond that performance, Johnson was having an underrated season. The team tried to move him into the slot, and he was awful in that situation. When you take that away, he was better than most fans would realize.
While you can say that Johnson was benefited from the reality that quarterbacks had better options to throw against than him, you also have to add that the pass rush did not help him when targeted.
Overall, Johnson is not an elite cornerback who will follow any wideout all over the field and win. However, he is a great zone cornerback, and he does a lot better when he can play with the sideline next to him.
It allows him to get physical and puts him in spots he is familiar with. When you ask Johnson to change sides, move into the slot, and defend routes that break over the middle, it starts to get into trouble areas.
This is enough to admit that while he is not a top-end cornerback, he is a reliable cornerback two, or potentially a lower-end cornerback one. If you have another cornerback of the caliber of Johnson across from him, the room would be just fine with legitimate options.
Johnson is not good enough to break the bank over, but the team should certainly offer him a fair market extension knowing that it is better to find another cornerback to play with him than it is to replace him, while still needing that second cornerback as well.