The Chicago Bears were relatively quiet ahead of the NFL trade deadline. Ryan Poles did swing one trade, acquiring defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka from the Cleveland Browns.
While the move wasn’t a huge trade, the Bears feel that they got better. Tryon-Shoyinka will help replace the loss of defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, who went down with an Achilles injury last week.
Through the first nine weeks of the 2025 NFL season, Chicago has been solid. So far, the Bears have shown signs of improvement from last season, but there have been some consistency issues already.
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Ahead of the deadline, Chicago considered another big move to acquire talent. However, at the end of the day, the Bears decided to pass due to the price tag.
According to a report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Chicago was among the teams with interest in acquiring New York Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson II. Along with the Bears, the San Francisco 49ers had interest.
Even though Chicago had interest, the price tag that the Jets had on Johnson ended up being too high.
“Sources: The Bears and 49ers were among the teams that tried to trade for Jets pass-rusher Jermaine Johnson II,” Schultz wrote on X. “New York wanted a 2nd-round pick, so Chicago pivoted to Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, while San Francisco ultimately stayed put. A move to the 49ers would’ve reunited Johnson with Robert Saleh.”
Johnson would have been a very nice addition for the Bears’ defense. Giving up a second round pick for him would have been too much. It was the right decision for Poles to pass on the deal.
So far this season with New York, Johnson has played in five games. He has recorded 19 total tackles, a sack, and a defended pass. Throughout his entire 38-game career that has been full of injuries, Johnson has totaled 107 tackles, 11 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception, a defensive touchdown, and eight defended passes.
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At 26 years old, Johnson possesses elite potential. He hasn’t been able to put it all together in the NFL, which made the price tag far too big of a risk.
Hopefully, Chicago is able to get good production out of Tryon-Shoyinka. He has produced nine tackles in eight games this season with the Browns and has 15 total sacks in 74 career games.
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