The Chicago Bears need to re-sign this player

The Chicago Bears have a lot of big decisions to make this offseason. They have already had to hire a new offensive and defensive coordinator and will have to decide if they will draft Caleb Williams with the number one overall pick or trade down and continue the development of Justin Fields.

The Bears' biggest move on the defensive side is to resign newly awarded Second-Team All-Pro Jaylon Johnson. Johnson just finished the final year of his rookie deal after trying to come up with an extension before the season started, which ultimately, neither party could come up with an agreement. In response, Johnson was elected to his first-ever Pro Bowl and was rated the highest cornerback according to Pro Football Focus in 2023. That's above household names like Sauce Gardner and DaRon Bland.

Opposing quarterbacks only completed 46.3% of their passes when targeting Johnson. In addition to that, Johnson only allowed a 28.5 passer rating, being one of the main highlights of Chicago's defense in 2023.

The Chicago Bears have one of the best cornerbacks in football, a quarterback under a rookie deal no matter who is under center this September, and have around $67 million in available cap space, according to Spotrac. The Bears can afford him, and the timing could not be better for Johnson and the Bears.

This upcoming offseason would be the best time to sign him, with Kyler Gordon and rising rookie Tyrique Stevenson on rookie deals for at least another two years. These players are young and will have growing pains, and Johnson can be a great mentor to the young secondary, Johnson is the second longest-tenured Bear in their secondary right behind safety Eddie Jackson.

Now is the best time to keep this defense together that allowed only 15.5 points per game in the final six weeks of the season. The defense got hot at the right time and is looking to continue that momentum into the 2024 season.

Keeping Johnson will be vital to Chicago's success on defense in 2024 and can be a big piece for a team searching for their first playoff appearance since 2020, which was Johnson's rookie season.