Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is staying calm and going about his work as he enters the final season of his rookie contract without an extension.
Johnson reiterated Monday after practice that while securing that money is important, it’s not preoccupying him.
“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I’m going out and playing my game. I’m trying to get a lot of interceptions this year. That’s what I’m focused on. The contract will come when it comes.”
Whether that comes from the Bears or in free agency, it’ll likely be big.
Corner is one of the most valued positions in the NFL, and the top seven have contracts that average at least $18 million per season. The Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs, who went one pick after Johnson in the 2020 draft, signed a five-year, $97 million extension last month. Johnson said he hasn’t quite put himself in that stratosphere yet, but is striving to get there.
“I love the game, but I also play the game for the check,” he said. “You grow up knowing the biggest thing is getting to that second contract, and that’s when you change your family’s lives... That’s a lot of people’s dreams to be able to have a job, to know they have generational wealth and have an opportunity to grow that wealth.”
Johnson figures to be key piece of the Bears’ future and would be an obvious candidate to sign to a contract extension before the season starts Sept. 10. At 24, he’s the leader of an up-and-coming group at cornerback, and general manager Ryan Poles has said he hopes to keep Johnson for a long time.
The best thing Johnson can do to boost his value is have an attention-getting season, and that starts with getting interceptions. He has just one in 39 career games and is intent on being more disruptive.
“The main thing for me is turnovers,” he said. “I work on technique, I work on covering and doing all that, I don’t miss too many tackles — it’s not really too much that I absolutely need to get better at and change. I just need to impact the game and create more turnovers.”
