Bears Trade Proposal Swaps Jaylon Johnson for Top-Tier Pass Rusher

There’s been a good amount of chatter about whether Trey Hendrickson could be a fit for the Chicago Bears, and on the surface, it makes sense.

Pass rush is still an area in which the Bears could use some depth, and Hendrickson is one of the league’s most disruptive pass rushers. The Bengals are considering trading him, according to reports, but any conversation about bringing him to Chicago has to also weigh the cost, and that’s where things get tricky.

Vincent Parise of USA Today’s Bears Wire put together a few trade proposals he thinks would get Hendrickson to the Windy City, and one in particular stands out, as it has the Bears swapping All-Pro corner Jaylon Johnson and a third-round pick for Hendrickson.

“The Bears should think twice about trading star cornerback Jaylon Johnson. If they were to send him and a third-round pick to the Bengals for Trey Hendrickson, they better have a contract extension ready to go,” Parise wrote on August 21, adding:

“They also have to believe that he has what it takes to make a division-winning difference when healthy.”

More on the Idea of a Jaylon Johnson- Trey Hendrickson Trade Swap

GettyCornerback Jaylon Johnson of the Chicago Bears has been named in a trade proposal involving Trey Hendrickson.

“This is one of the higher-value trades that a team might consider making for a 31-year-old pass rusher,” Parise noted.

“Johnson is only 26 years old, but the Bears might need another high-end edge defender more than they need a shutdown corner that is going to want another extension in a year. If the Bears did make a trade with the Bengals, it wouldn’t be a more lucrative package than this one. If that were the case, it would be a bad decision by GM Ryan Poles.”

Our take? Moving Johnson in a swap would be a backwards move for the Bears.

Johnson is exactly the kind of player teams try to trade for—not trade away. A 2020 second-round pick, he’s developed into a true CB1, earning consecutive Pro Bowl nods (2024, 2025) and second-team All-Pro honors in 2024. The Bears inked him to a four-year extension through 2027 because in a passing league, corners who can shadow and sometimes eliminate WR1s are premium assets — and Johnson is that guy.

Bears’ Need for Pass Rush Depth Has Lent Hype to Hendrickson Trade Rumors

Since arriving in Cincinnati in 2021, Hendrickson has been the engine of Cincinnati’s pass rush. The last two seasons, he stacked back-to-back 17.5-sack campaigns, earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2024. He also won the Deacon Jones Award after leading the NFL in sacks last year.

The sticking point where a trade to the Bears is concerned would be age and money. Hendrickson and his camp want an extension beyond 2025, and he’s already on the wrong side of 30, as they say. Paying him amongst the league’s elite edges at his age would — and should — make many teams balk. Hendrickson is an absolute beast, but it would be complete malpractice to create a hole at CB1 in exchange for an aging pass rusher.

If Chicago did want Hendrickson, the smart play would be to leverage cap flexibility and draft capital—not its All-Pro cornerback.