Jaylon Johnson wanted to be traded Tuesday.
He was surprised he wasn’t.
The Bears cornerback — and their best defensive player, at least before they traded for defensive end Montez Sweat — was back at Halas Hall on Wednesday pondering his future. He’s in the last year of his rookie contract and has been pining for a contract extension since the winter.
“Nothing I want has happened so far as contract, trade, anything like that,” he said.
The Bears can’t trade him now that the NFL deadline passed Tuesday. They can continue trying to sign him to an extension, though Johnson sounded lukewarm about that possibility.
“That’s not what I’m interested in right now,” Johnson said.
General manager Ryan Poles said the Bears are willing to continue extension talks and will “follow Jaylon’s lead.” Johnson would be excited to hit the open market, but he knows Poles could give him the franchise tag next season, locking him in for one season. The GM would have to work out an extension with Sweat, the edge rusher he got from the Commanders on Tuesday, first — NFL teams can only franchise tag one player each year.
Giving Sweat a multi-year deal might cause a problem with Johnson, too, if a new player gets an extension before he does.
“I know the opportunity’s there,” said Johnson, who spoke with Poles on Wednesday. “Somebody has to get paid — I know that.”
Johnson claims he wants to stay a Bear long-term — “I’ve said that since I got here,” he said — and Poles wants him around, too. But both will do so only at their price.
For 18 hours or so, Johnson was hoping another team would pay him.
Poles was surprised it got to that point. After he met with Johnson’s agent in Los Angeles on Sunday, the GM texted other members of the Bears front office saying he thought they’d be able to get a new deal done in a matter of days.
The Bears came home after the Chargers game, though, and Johnson demanded a trade in person. Poles let him try, allowing his agent to gauge what a team would trade the Bears for him and what salary Johnson might expect. Johnson said that was instructive.
Granting the trade request late Monday night — and leaving Johnson’s agent only 18 hours or so to find the right spot — made finding a deal difficult. So did Poles’ asking price — a draft pick in the late first or early second rounds.
“I don’t want to lose Jaylon Johnson,” Poles said. “If I were to lose Jaylon Johnson, I would like to have a high percentage of hitting on another Jaylon Johnson, which to me, is a late first and into early second (-round pick). Really simple there. That didn’t happen.”
Johnson said at the beginning of the year he didn’t want Trevon Diggs money — the Cowboys standout got a five-year deal worth about $97 million with $43 million guaranteed in July. Diggs tore his ACL in September.
“Arguably, I feel like I’m the best corner in the game right now. …” Johnson said. “I feel like, for me, that only increases my value. And it so happens that you strike iron while it’s hot. That’s what it’s about.”
Poles said both sides talked money but neither gave their last-and-final offer, making it impossible to meet in the middle.
“You go back and forth, and you try to find the sweet spot. …” he said. “But we haven’t gotten there yet.”
Johnson said he’s not “asking to change the market or break records” with a new deal.
“But I’m also not just going to take anything,” he said. “Like, ‘OK, you deem me as this so I’m this.. …’
“It’s a balance of being professional, being respectful to what [Poles’] goals are and what he’s trying to do — but also what my goals are and what I’m trying to do.”
