The Chicago Bears enjoyed a lot of their success, last season, without the aid of their top cornerback in Jaylon Johnson.
Johnson's season was shortened due to injuries and saw him only appear in seven of 17 games last year. It isn't something we've likely thought about often, but, his future with the team might very well be in question.
Bears beat reporter Brad Biggs went on 104.3 The Score this morning and talked about the team's secondary. When he got to speaking on Johnson, it was pretty cut and dry.
"Jaylon Johnson has one season remaining on his contract. If he doesn’t play well, if he has another injury-riddled season, you move on from him.”
Biggs, of course, is referring to the one year remaining after this coming 2026 season. Cutting Johnson before the 2027 season would save the Bears roughly $16 million against the cap.
And that would be about the only positive to come out from this situation.
Jaylon Johnson's future with the Bears depends solely on the 2026 season
This is obviously a big 'if,' but if Johnson does either end up struggling in 2026 or injuries catch up to him once again, and the Bears cut ties, then we might be living in a world where Tyrique Stevenson is the team's no. 1 cornerback.
That's an entirely different story in and of itself, of course, assuming Stevenson plays well this coming season.
Many Bears fans assume Stevenson will be gone after 2026 anyway. Entering the final year of his rookie deal and being one of the more unpredictable and inconsistent players on the roster, it has long seemed like a foregone conclusion that he'll be playing elsewhere in 2027.
So, now we are potentially looking at a room where Malik Muhammad is the team's top cornerback.
Nothing against Muhammad in the slightest, but that would be reason to sound the alarm. The Bears would be in desperate need of another starting cornerback. Not only that, but they'd be stuck having to move on from a guy who was once one of the most steady at the position in Johnson.
If Johnson continues to go downhill, whether it be due to injury or performance, that'd be a huge disappointment. Ultimately, it would be a huge loss. Johnson quickly became a player this team could count on regularly. He was simply consistent.
Not having Johnson -- or at least the version we have grown to love -- would be a massive hit to this secondary.
There is a reason Biggs also referred to the 2026 season as a "make or break" type of year for the former Utah standout. When you think about it, that's exactly what it is. Johnson's future with the Bears depends on the 2026 season.
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This isn't necessarily a talking point Bears fans were ready to hear, but now that Biggs has brought it to light, it makes a lot of sense. Chicago's cornerback room could undergo a lot of change in the next 10 months.
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