When the Chicago Bears take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, all eyes and minds will be on the big storylines and players. It's all about Caleb Wiliams, Ben Johnson and the Bears offense starting hot in this one.
But on the defensive side, the Bears have several questions looming. One of them is what will happen with cornerback Tyrique Stevenson this year, and next, as he begins the final year of his rookie deal.
Looking across the sidelines to the Carolina roster, though, Stevenson sees a pair of cornerbacks that could represent precisely the situation he and the Bears are in. The Panthers have a strong CB1 in Jaycee Horn, while opposite him is a more underrated and overlooked name in Mike Jackson.
All you need to do in order to see Stevenson's blueprint for an extension is to look at what Jackson did last year in 2025 while playing opposite Horn.
Tyrique Stevenson can earn a Bears extension if he duplicates Panthers CB Mike Jackson's 2025 season
The similarities between these two situations are definitely there. Jackson isn't a household name, but he should be after last year. He's coming off a season where he led the NFL with 19 pass breakups while also adding four interceptions.
He's a ball hawk. He goes after the football, period. That's a Dennis Allen type, if we've ever seen one.
In 2024, Jackson tallied an impressive 17 pass breakups but gave up six touchdowns and an opposing quarterback rating of 106.5. For perspective, Jackson lowered his allowed touchdowns to four and his opposing quarterback rating to only 75.0 in 2025.
Similarly, Stevenson is known to be a guy who goes after the football. He takes risks. In each of his three seasons, Stevenson has posted double-digit pass breakups, totaling 38 in those seasons. His opposing quarterback rating averages out to 90.0 over his career, per Pro Football Reference.
Stevenson gave up a ridiculous nine touchdowns as a rookie, just four in Year 2 and, believe it or not, only one last season.
Looking at the past two years of Jackson's tape and production, he absolutely deserves an extension in Carolina, but looks like he's going to be playing this year out and head into free agency in 2027.
If Stevenson puts forth an effort similar to Jackson's 2025 campaign, the Bears will have no choice but to extend him. For the sake of the argument and a little fun, let's say Stevenson's 2026 season looked like this:
Pass Breakups | INT | TD Allowed | Opposing QB Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
14 | 5 | 3 | 82.0 |
This isn't a stat line that would qualify as completely out-of-this-world, but it would be Stevenson's best overall season to date. Assuming Jaylon Johnson stays healthy and is the guy we all know and love, then this is about as good as you could ask for on the other side.
This type of production, from Stevenson, would send the biggest possible message to Ryan Poles.
And it would warrant an extension.
For many fans who had given up on Stevenson because of his immaturity or inconsistent play, this turn of events couldn't be a better shift in his story. Let's not forget, Stevenson is a former second-round pick made by Poles. The last thing Poles wants to do is to let a high draft pick go after being proved right.
Over the past few weeks, the Bears' secondary has been one of the sorest spots in fan conversations. The Kyler Gordon situation and Coby Bryant's injury have dampened what would have been an incredible secondary with everyone healthy.
Now, if Stevenson goes out and puts on a career year, that's about as good of news as anybody could've asked for.
Read more: Bears have a league-leading Panthers problem awaiting Ben Johnson's offense
And it would warrant a new deal to keep him in Chicago.
Add us as a preferred source on Google