There's no telling whether Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles would be open to making any deals during the regular season. Still, they found a way to create some salary cap space to help out with that potential.
ESPN's Field Yates shared on social media that three NFL players have helped their teams with creating cap space with restructured deals. One of those players was Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
Johnson is currently in the second year of his four-year, $76 million deal from last year. Yates said Johnson's restructured deal helped create $8 million in cap space for the 2025 season.
Teams creating cap space via contract restructures:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 3, 2025
The Falcons created $6M by restructuring WR Darnell Mooney’s deal
The Bills created just under $8M by restructuring OT Dion Dawkins’ deal
The Bears created $8M by restructuring CB Jaylon Johnson’s deal
Johnson backs up his word on being a team player in a big way
This was a topic just discussed on Tuesday, where Johnson rejected the narrative by the media that he was seeking a new contract. Some thought the groin injury he had been dealing with throughout training camp might have been a ruse, but Johnson made sure to defend himself.
"You know me better than that. I never held out. I haven't ever done any of that. ... It's a good (media narrative) as far as the contract and the timing and things, but I'm not that type of cat."
Since the Bears selected Johnson in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, he has been the key figure in the secondary. His career numbers include 214 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 49 pass deflections, seven interceptions, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one touchdown in 70 career games. He has made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and 2024 with the Bears.
Johnson has been the definition of a shutdown corner, allowing a completion percentage of 59% and a passer rating of 91.1. He has also played at least 91% of the defensive snaps over the last five years, which shows his reliability on the field as well as off it.
Read more: Stats quietly reveal Bears' Ben Johnson's dominance over Vikings' Brian Flores
With multiple players returning from injury in the secondary, Johnson is the most important one and the action he took to help the franchise out will only open the door for Poles to potentially make a move that could help the Bears win in 2025.