Jaylon Johnson: Contract talks with Bears are hopefully ramping up
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson had money on his mind when he returned an interception for a touchdown in Sunday's win over the Raiders and he wasn't shy about sharing why he celebrated the score by throwing imaginary bills in the air.
Johnson said "damn right" when asked if the celebration was a reference to his desire for a new contract. Johnson is playing out the final year of his rookie contract and he said on 670 The Score Monday that talks with the Bears have been going on during the season. It doesn't sound like an agreement is imminent, but Johnson said he hopes that the conversations heat up with the October 31 trade deadline approaching.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s a process, it’s a process,” Johnson said. “But things are, I would say, starting to hopefully, to ramp up. We’ll see kind of where things go, especially in this next week . . . just before the trade deadline. You never know what can happen beforehand, but just looking forward to seeing where things go. Because I mean, to me, it’s different and just talking and really just, ‘OK, well, let’s try to figure something out, let’s try to figure something out’ versus things getting done. So I’m just looking forward to seeing what actually gets done.”
Given the uncertainty that the lack of an extension creates about Johnson's future in Chicago, a trade could also be a possibility if negotiations don't move in the direction that Johnson is hoping so there will be a couple of things to watch with Johnson over the next week.
