The Chicago Bears are determined to retain Jaylon Johnson this offseason, potentially resorting to using the franchise tag to ensure his continued presence on the team.

Last year, we anticipated a contract extension for Johnson, suggesting a three-year deal worth $36 million with $24 million guaranteed. However, given his impressive performance last season, what might an extension entail now?

Estimating the likelihood of Jaylon Johnson securing a contract extension with the Chicago Bears.

Initially, it’s anticipated that Johnson will opt to play under the franchise tag, at the very least. The estimated cost of the tag stands at $18.8 million. Therefore, the Bears would need to offer more than that to even begin negotiations, as Johnson could potentially earn more on the open market in 2025 or receive the tag again, which would amount to 120% of the initial tag cost.

Given Johnson’s confidence in entering this season without a long-term deal, he likely considers the worst-case scenario to be getting tagged twice. Calculating 120% of $18.8 million would result in $22.6 million, summing up to two years with a total of $41.4 million.

This equates to an average of $20.7 million per year. When comparing to the highest cornerback salaries in the NFL, Jaire Alexander earns $21 million per year, Denzel Ward earns $20.1 million, and Jalen Ramsey earns $20 million. Ramsey’s deal, signed in 2020, remained unmatched for a year.

In April 2022, the Browns offered Ward a total of $500,000 more and $225,000 more in guarantees compared to Ramsey. Although Alexander’s total did not surpass Ramsey’s, he did receive an additional $900,000 per year, despite signing a four-year deal instead of five.