Getty
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears don’t have many home run cut candidates on the roster, though one of the team’s best players has surfaced as a potential departure ahead of the new NFL year.
Bill Huber, who covers the Green Bay Packers for SI, suggested on Sunday, February 22 that two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson is a player with whom Chicago might decide to part ways ahead of the free agency period that begins March 11. Huber also dubbed Johnson a target for the Packers should he hit the open market.
“Injuries limited [Johnson] to seven games in 2025,” Huber wrote. “Chicago is in worse shape cap-wise than Green Bay at about $8.3 million over, and Johnson has cap charges of $24.5 million in 2026 and $25.0 million in 2027.”
Johnson inked a four-year contract worth $76 million in March 2024. Chicago has made some cap maneuvers in the time since Huber’s research that have brought the team’s total cap deficit down to $4.1 million as of Sunday afternoon.
One major fault in Huber’s theory is that the Bears will save only $6.5 million against the cap if they cut Johnson before June. The team could save $15.5 million by axing him with a post-June 1 designation, but that wouldn’t free up any cap space until the summer when most quality free agents will have already signed elsewhere.
The dead cap hit Chicago incurs from a pre-June 1 cut of Johnson is $18 million, which would essentially equate to paying that amount for Johnson to play elsewhere, rendering the Bears’ bad defense in 2025 considerably worse, and doing it all in the name of only an extra $6.5 million to spend in March.
Jaylon Johnson Still Elite NFL Cornerback When Healthy
GettyChicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
Huber himself provides the second and third reasons the Bears are unlikely to cut Johnson when describing why the cornerback would be a great fit in Green Bay — his age and remaining talent.
“Johnson has more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns allowed (six) the past four seasons,” Huber continued. “He will turn 27 before the draft, so he’s got a lot of good football left in the tank after a third consecutive season of allowing a passer rating of less than 90.0. He’s not a good tackler.”
Despite Johnson’s tackling issues, he is one of the better cover cornerbacks in the NFL. His primary issue last season was remaining healthy after suffering a groin injury in the summer that came back to haunt him in Week 2 against the Detroit Lions, which was the low point of the Bears’ season via a 31-point road loss to a team they would later dethrone as NFC North champs.
Bears More Likely to Split With Cornerback Nahshon Wright Than Jaylon Johnson
GettyChicago Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright.
The more likely cornerback to depart the Windy City this offseason is soon-t0-be free agent Nahshon Wright.
Wright played last season on a one-year deal and put up a breakout campaign that included 11 passes defensed, five interceptions, three tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown.
Spotrac projects Wright’s market value at approximately $50 million total over a new three-year contract, which could price Chicago out as the Bears hunt for upgrades to one of the league’s worst pass-rush groups last season.
It is unclear if the Packers are willing to spend that kind of money for a much-needed upgrade to their secondary. While Green Bay would probably put up the cash necessary to ink a more proven player in Johnson, Wright comes with some risk due to his relative anonymity via a lack of production across the first four years of his career.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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