![\"Jaylon](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1897663200.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\")
<\/p>\nThe Chicago Bears appeared to shut the door on the possibility that All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson could be available for the Pittsburgh Steelers in NFL free agency at the end of the regular season. But on February 3, Johnson seemed to reopen that door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart\u2019s definitely in Chicago, mind\u2019s definitely on the money,\u201d Johnson told NFL.com on February 3 at the Pro Bowl. \u201cSo, I mean, we\u2019ll figure out if we can make them both come together and get something done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to see what\u2019s to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Steelers have been connected to Johnson since the NFL trade deadline.<\/p>\n
On October 31, ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler reported that Johnson requested a trade from Chicago before the league\u2019s trade deadline. Fowler also mentioned the Steelers as one of three teams who were engaged in negotiations to trade for the cornerback.<\/p>\n
On January 9, Pro Football Focus identified the Steelers as one of four possible fits this offseason besides the Bears for Johnson.<\/p>\n
The clich\u00e9 \u201cwanting your cake and eating it to\u201d seems to fit the situation around Johnson this offseason. He appears to want to stay in Chicago, but Johnson also desires the Bears to make him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the league.<\/p>\n
Johnson conveyed those feelings with his contradictory message on February 3. He also said something similar before Christmas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to stay here,\u201d\u00a0Johnson told reporters on December 20, via AP News\u2019 Andrew Seligman. \u201cI definitely want to get something done (here) first. But at the end of the day, if something doesn\u2019t get done, then I\u2019m not opposed to any other options.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I would love to stay here. So that\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he reached free agency, the Steelers would be an obvious fit because of their need at cornerback. Johnson is coming off the best season of his career in 2023 and would immediately upgrade Pittsburgh\u2019s secondary playing opposite\u00a0Joey Porter Jr.<\/p>\n
Johnson posted\u00a036 combined tackles with 10 pass defenses and 4 interceptions in 2023. He made his first Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro.<\/p>\n
Johnson can send all the conflicting messages he wants and imply he\u2019s looking forward to free agency. But the Bears have leverage over his contract situation.<\/p>\n
And Bears general manager Ryan Poles made it pretty clear Johnson will be staying in Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cJaylon\u2019s not going to go anywhere and we\u2019ll work through it to\u00a0get something done<\/span>. . . . \u201cWe have really good communication,\u201d Poles said on January 10,\u00a0via NBC Sports Chicago\u2019s Alex Shapiro. \u201cThe big thing was just kind of take a break here after the season and then we\u2019ll start talks again. I feel really good about that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if the Bears don\u2019t agree to a new contract with Johnson before the start of free agency, Chicago can keep the cornerback through the franchise tag.<\/p>\n Arizona Football Daily\u2019s Mike Jurecki reported\u00a0on February 4 that the Bears are planning to use the franchise tag on Johnson this offseason.<\/p>\n Placing the tag on Johnson will cost the Bears about $18.8 million on a 1-year tender. Then, the Bears and Johnson will have until the middle of July to agree to an extension.<\/p>\n However, that likelihood probably won\u2019t stop Steelers fans from getting excited about the slim possibility of Johnson reaching free agency and signing with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n The Chicago Bears appeared to shut the door on the possibility that All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson could be available for the Pittsburgh Steelers in NFL free agency… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflquynh.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"