Ryan Poles sent an important message to the Chicago Bears locker room with Jaylon Johnson's contract extension

Jaylon Johnson is one of the most respected players in the Chicago Bears’ locker room.

So when it was announced Johnson and the Bears agreed to a new four-year contract extension worth $76 million with $54.4 million in guaranteed money after initially being franchise tagged, his teammates went to social media to share their excitement.

Defensive teammates like Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson posted their reactions on X and Instagram as well as offensive players like Cole Kmet and Braxton Jones.

The new contact wasn’t just important to Johnson — who now has life-changing money and job security, but this move by general manager Ryan Poles sent a message throughout the team that players who perform will get rewarded.

“We’re extremely excited to be able to keep Jaylon here for the next four years,” Poles told ChicagoBears.com. “He’s an integral part of our defense and his leadership will help our team continue to ascend. We want to thank Chris Ellison for helping get this extension done.”

Through Johnson’s four seasons in Chicago, the former second round draft pick out of Utah has given it his all to a team that has won just 24 total games and finished no better than second in the NFC North throughout that time.

Poles became the team’s GM in 2022, and that season Johnson dealt with a series of injuries and was limited to just 11 games. Going into the Bears’ Week 16 matchup against the Bills at Soldier Field, the Bears had won just three games. Johnson had already dealt with a quad and oblique injury earlier in the season and was battling through a broken ring finger. Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Johnson wanted to play against Buffalo — a game that ended up being just nine degrees at kickoff, but the team decided it was in the best interest of the organization to place Johnson on IR.

Johnson showed his new general manager what kind of player he was getting in that first season they were together. Then, Johnson had the best year of his career. The 24-year-old cornerback finished the 2023 season with four interceptions with one returned for a touchdown, 10 passes defended, a forced fumble, 195 yards allowed and 33.3 passer rating allowed — which was first among corners with at least 75 snaps according to Pro Football Focus.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Poles said the team was “in the process of getting Jaylon Johnson done. Conversations are going well at this time.”

But the Bears and Johnson couldn’t come to an agreement on an extension prior to Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CT deadline and Johnson was franchise tagged. That ended up only lasting two days, though, before Johnson got his much-awaited contract extension.

Prior to Johnson’s extension, Kmet also signed a new contract with the team after his 73 receptions, 719 yards and six touchdown catches in 17 games played in 2023. Poles rewarded production in these two instances, but it wasn’t always that way.

Roquan Smith and the Bears couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract during the 2022 season, so Poles ended up trading the former first-round draft pick to the Ravens for second- and fifth-round picks and linebacker A.J. Klein. The trade needed to be made, but it wasn’t easy for the players in the locker room to see one of their leaders be sent away.

That’s why it was an important move for the Bears organization to extend an ascending, young football player in Johnson on a roster that is finally looking to become competitive in 2024. The defense took major steps last season and Johnson played a huge part in that growth.

It’s impossible for Poles to make every right move, but coming to an agreement with Johnson was a vital one for team’s competitiveness moving forward and also the players in the locker room who will one day be looking for that future contract extension as well.

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