(670 The Score) Cornerback Jaylon Johnson has been seeking a long-term future with the Bears during contract negotiations that have spanned months but failed to produce an agreement. A lucrative extension instead came first Saturday for newly acquired pass rusher Montez Sweat, for whom Chicago dealt a second-round pick to Washington to acquire at the trade deadline four days prior.
Despite the rocky tenor of his contract negotiations, Johnson isn't upset by the Bears taking care of Sweat before himself, he told the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Monday evening.
“If you understand the business, none of it in a sense surprises me,” Johnson said. “You’re not going to trade a second-round pick to bring in a big-time level player to not sign him. You have to sign him. You have to take care of him. He’s a high-quality player, a top guy in the league at his position. None of it surprises me.
“I don’t feel any kind of way except excitement for him and looking to get my turn when that time comes. I’m in a position where I’m not tripping off the timing.”
Sweat on Saturday signed a four-year extension worth up to $98 million to solidify his future in Chicago. The contract for Sweat came just days after Johnson requested a trade from the Bears amid an impasse in his extension negotiations.
The Bears didn't deal Johnson way as the trade deadline passed Tuesday, with general manager Ryan Poles later revealing that he coveted a late first-round or early second-round pick in exchange for Johnson. Poles believed that draft capital would have given the Bears the best opportunity to replace Johnson if he was traded away. However, Poles also admitted he never had a desire to move Johnson and expressed optimism a contract can still be reached.
With the Bears securing Sweat on a new contract, Johnson recognizes that he now becomes a prime candidate to receive a franchise or transition tag this offseason if he and the team can't reach a contract extension before then.
“Would it bother me? From a business side of it, no, because I understand it,” Johnson said. “Shoot, I already knew before Montez got signed. Of course, now that he got signed, I know that if anybody is going to get tagged, it would be me. After that, it turns into a contract situation. They’re not letting me go.
“I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let me walk in free agency.”