FA Fits: Plundering the Bears for an Urgent Need in Brian Flores’ Defense
Convince Jaylon Johnson to leave The Windy City behind in favor of The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Plundering the Bears would have the double effect of depleting Chicago while enhancing Minnesota, helping to shift the balance of power in the NFC North.
Johnson, only 24, is the kind of CB1 the Vikings have lacked. He isn’t huge, standing at 6’0” and weighing 196 pounds. Nevertheless, he has proven to be among the absolute best boundary corners in the NFL. Grafting him into the Vikings’ defense would instantly create a domino effect that would make everyone’s lives easier.
Plundering the Bears: Jaylon Johnson, CB1
Like an ace in a pitching rotation or an elite center at the top of a hockey lineup, a top-tier corner makes everyone’s life easier.
In theory, Johnson would be the lockdown outside corner who is going toe-to-toe with the opposition’s WR1. Byron Murphy then slides into a more suitable role as an excellent CB2 who seamlessly moves into the slot and outside when called upon. Mekhi Blackmon, Akayleb Evans, and Andrew Booth Jr. can then tussle for the CB3 job.
Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Making things sound even more appealing is age. As we discussed up top, Johnson is still only 24. He would partner with Josh Metellus (26), Camryn Bynum (25), Byron Murphy (26), Mekhi Blackmon (24), Akayleb Evans (24), and Andrew Booth Jr. (23). Not a gray beard in the room even though there’s still a ton of experience. And, crucially, a ton of potential to keep growing.
In 2023, Johnson finished the season allowing just 55.2% of passes into his coverage to be completed. On average, the completions went for 8.7 yards while QBs had a stunningly low pass rating — 50.9 — when targeting him.
Johnson is, in short, a stud at corner who still looks to have several years of high-end play ahead of him. Maybe the Bears don’t let him get to free agency, but there has been some past trade speculation; the relationship between team and player hasn’t been perfect. Does Minnesota get the chance to plunder a division rival? The defender appears to be exactly what the secondary needs.
Consider what Brad Spielberger had to say on PFF: “The physical, technically sound wide cornerback boasts ball production and lockdown coverage abilities that prevent targets as well as anyone, never allowing a 60% completion rate in any NFL season thus far.”
On average, the NFL’s top corners make around $20 million per season (Jaire Alexander, Denzel Ward, and Jalen Ramsey find themselves in this range). Seeing Johnson join the crew wouldn’t be surprising. For the Vikings, the trick would obviously be to backload the deal as a way of digesting the major contract in 2024.
Winning in the NFL is supremely difficult. Winning in the NFL without some excellent play at corner is nearly impossible. Johnson, of course, is simply one player, so he can’t fix all that ails Minnesota.
The potential, though, is to bring in a true CB1 who can make every other coverage matchup easier. The Vikings haven’t had someone like that since Xavier Rhodes. In his prime, Rhodes was capable of almost fully neutralizing the other team’s WR1, making the contest significantly tougher for the offense.
Re-inserting a corner capable of that kind of play into the lineup would instantly make life far easier for Brian Flores. The DC who loves to blitz could get even more creative with his aggression since he’ll have a matchup weapon to leave in a one-on-one scenario against a top-tier pass catcher.
If there’s no franchise tag, the Vikings need to be thinking long and hard about the kind of offer they can put in front of Jaylon Johnson. His position and age look to be a perfect match for Minnesota, especially since the Vikings already have a slot solution whom they hold in high regard.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.