The Chicago Bears are gearing up for an exciting 2025 NFL season, which features some new faces within the organization poised to get the franchise back to its winning ways. That starts with the hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach, as well as overhauling the interior offensive line, adding pieces on defense and a potenital impactful rookie draft class.
Every day from now right up through training camp, we’re counting down our 30 Most Important Bears for the 2025 season. We’ll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to 2025 and tackle the biggest question facing them this year.
At No. 6 is Jaylon Johnson, the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback who will have the chance to cover the best receivers in Dennis Allen’s defense.
Background
Position: Cornerback
Age: 26
Experience: 6th season
2025 cap hit: $21 million
2024 recap
The start of 2024 could not have gone much better for Johnson. He entered the season fresh off signing a new four-year contract worth $76 million with $43.8 million guaranteed. Johnson became one of the best corners in 2023 and was finally paid like one. He responded with another solid season, totaling two interceptions (both of which came in September) and a career high of 42 solo tackles and seven tackles for loss. Most importantly, Johnson played in all 17 games for the first time in his career, putting to rest any questions about his durability. Though his 2024 season wasn’t as stellar as his 2023 campaign, Johnson’s performance still earned him Pro Bowl honors for a second consecutive year.
2025 outlook
As one of the few holdovers from the Ryan Pace era, Johnson has experienced so much change. Entering 2025, he will be on his third head coach and fifth defensive coordinator (six if you count Matt Eberflus) in just six years. Through it all, Johnson has succeeded and elevated his game to become one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. That shouldn’t change when he works under Dennis Allen and secondaries coach Al Harris. Johnson has continuity in the secondary as Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson are back for a third year, while safeties Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard are returning as well. The only thing Johnson needs to worry about is getting healthy, as he’s expected to be out for a few weeks with a knee injury. When he returns, expectations remain high for the Bears’ shutdown corner.
Big question: How will Johnson fare shadowing top WRs?
The biggest change for Johnson while playing under Allen will likely be how he’s utilized across the field. In previous seasons, Johnson would normally stay on one side of the field or move around depending on the coverage that was called. He hasn’t necessarily shadowed the top wide receiver on the opposing team since the Matt Nagy era, when he was just coming into the league. That is expected to change under Allen, and now Johnson will get the chance to shine against the brightest stars in the league. Can he shut them down long enough, though? It’s a tough task to shadow players like Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, AJ Brown, and CeeDee Lamb. If anyone is up for it, however, it’s Johnson.
30 Most Important Bears of 2025
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 30 Most Important Bears of 2025: Jaylon Johnson (No. 6)
Reporting by Brendan Sugrue and Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
