After a whole lot of smoke, there was no fire when it came to Chicago Bears CB Jaylon Johnson. Despite receiving permission to seek a trade and multiple teams reportedly interested, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson was not moved before Tuesday’s trade deadline. The news even came as a surprise to Johnson himself.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Bears GM Ryan Poles revealed one reason why that was. His asking price to trade Johnson was awfully high. Via The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain, Poles told reporters he didn’t want to lose Johnson and that he valued him at a late first-round/early second-round level.
Here’s the quote, via Fishbain.
Reporting ahead of the deadline indicated the Bears were looking for a Day Two pick. That’s seemingly confirmed and arguably even undersold. For a team to trade that kind of capital, signing Johnson to a long-term deal would’ve been a must. Meaning, they would’ve had to send a top draft pick while paying Johnson roughly $15 million per year. Based on that, it’s easy to see why the Steelers and the rest of the league didn’t make a deal.
Speaking to reporters earlier today, Johnson admitted other teams were offering better deals than the Bears, who reportedly low-balled him. But no agreement was reached and Johnson will play out the final year of his rookie deal with the team. A free agent after the season, the Bears could retain him with the franchise tag, but that’ll only be an option if they sign DE Montez Sweat to a long-term deal. Chicago used a second-round pick to acquire him from Washington.
It sounds like the only way Johnson was being traded was if the Bears could recoup that second rounder back. For a team sitting at 4-3, the Steelers are unlikely to have a top pick in Round Two in April’s draft and whatever offer they might have made probably wasn’t good enough.
