Steelers miss out on potential free agent after he receives the franchise tag from Chicago Bears
Hesitancy can cost you big in the NFL. And for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they almost pulled the trigger on trading for Bears CB Jaylon Johnson at the trade deadline last season. Well they didn't, and now Chicago has locked him up and likely increased the asking price: Bears Franchise Tag Jaylon Johnson Johnson was slated […]
Hesitancy can cost you big in the NFL.
And for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they almost pulled the trigger on trading for Bears CB Jaylon Johnson at the trade deadline last season.
Well they didn't, and now Chicago has locked him up and likely increased the asking price:
Bears Franchise Tag Jaylon Johnson
Johnson was slated to be one of the top corners on the market this offseason, with A to Z projecting the following contract:
Projected Contract: 4 yrs $90M, $22.5M APY, $40M fully GTD
Year One Cap Hit: $12M
Now Pittsburgh likely wouldn't have been able to afford that price, but they had an opportunity during the year to trade for Johnson and decided against it.
Had they decided to, they could have tagged him and started their own negotiations.
Instead, the Bears' trade demands will have likely only gone up, and the sides are both interested in staying together and coming to terms on a deal, something that was obviously up in the air just months ago.
And sure draft capital matters. But at only 24 years old and with proven production in the league, it's hard to argue that a second-round pick in this year's draft will be as good of a player as Johnson.
But Pittsburgh is betting on just that.
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