Bears use franchise tag on Pro Bowl DB

Given the interest from the Bears and Johnson about a long-term Chicago partnership, this was not a difficult tag to predict. The Bears will have until July 15 to work on an extension with the former second-round pick. Ryan Poles‘ team came into Tuesday with considerable cap space and still have more than $55M after tagging Johnson.

No cornerback had been tagged since the Rams kept Trumaine Johnson off the 2017 free agent market. This year, two corners have been cuffed. While the Chiefs have opened the window to a tag-and-trade move involving L’Jarius Sneed, the Bears look more likely to hang onto Johnson and work on an extension. The sides resumed talks recently.

Johnson did not look like a possible tag recipient coming into last season, but the defensive back timed his breakout well. Pro Football Focus rated Johnson as the league’s best cornerback in 2023, and the former second-round pick intercepted four passes and allowed just a 50.9 passer rating as the closest defender. Johnson’s previous-best rating allowed: 94.6 in 2022. It would make some sense if the Bears made the Utah alum prove his second-team All-Pro slate was not a fluke, but the sides were talking an extension midway through last season. With Johnson noting he wants to become the NFL’s highest-paid corner, these negotiations might be tricky.

Although Johnson has not proven to be a difference-maker over multiple seasons, the tag gives him some leverage in talks. Due to the recent cap spike, the 2024 CB tag number nearly matches Jaire Alexander‘s position-record AAV ($21M). That said, the Bears also hold leverage by using the tag. Johnson can realistically only negotiate with one team, though the Bears would be entitled to a two-first-rounder haul if they failed to match another club’s offer sheet. That is a rare occurrence in franchise tag history.

Contract talks not progressing last fall led the Bears to let Johnson seek a trade hours before the deadline. The Bills and 49ers were among the teams to show interest, but the Bears sought a first- or second-round pick for the four-year starter. It is safe to assume no such offer emerged, and the sides regrouped. 

The Bears subsequently traded for Montez Sweat and extended him. With most of the Ryan Pace-era pieces off the roster on defense, Poles has some room to maneuver.. Although he did authorize a top-five ILB contract for Tremaine Edmunds, Poles does not have a big-ticket contract in place in the secondary at present. That could clear some runway space for a Johnson accord by July.

For now, teams in need of cornerbacks may look to the trade market. Conversely, the second-tier corners on this year’s market stand to see their price tags rise as a result of the Sneed and Johnson tags.