The Bears gave cornerback Jaylon Johnson permission to seek a trade Monday, but General Manager Ryan Poles said he hoped no team gave the Bears the compensation they sought.
Poles wanted a late first- or early second-round pick. Several teams were interested in Johnson, including the Steelers, according to Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan, but not at that price.
“I don’t want to lose Jaylon Johnson,” Poles said, via Kevin Fishbain of TheAthletic.com. “If I were to lose Johnson, I would like to have a high chance of hitting on another Jaylon Johnson, which to me, is a late-first, early second.”
The Bears made Johnson a second-round pick in 2020, and he has appeared in 45 career games with Chicago, totaling 143 tackles and three interceptions. He is in the final year of his rookie contract.
The sides have exchanged contract numbers, per Poles, and had a good meeting in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Poles said, via Jason Leiser of the Chicago Sun-Times, that the Bears hoped to complete a long-term deal “within a couple days” and were surprised to hear the next day that Johnson wanted to explore his options.
It is unclear how much of a gap exists between the sides, because they haven’t traded final numbers yet. But now that the trade deadline has come and gone, the Bears and Johnson can work on keeping him in Chicago beyond this season.
