The 2025 Chicago Bears season was one for the ages.
Chicago took a major step in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season. The team elevated itself to one of the best in the NFL after finishing 5-12 the previous year. It resulted in the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2020, first NFC North title since 2018 and first playoff win since the 2010 playoffs.
The Bears did it in dramatic fashion, too. They had seven comeback wins after they trailed with two minutes left in the game, earning themselves the “Cardiac Bears” nickname.
Chicago will now try to build off of a great season. Bears general manager Ryan Poles and Johnson will need to make some tough roster decisions this offseason as the Bears try to take another step closer to being Super Bowl contenders next year.
Over the next few weeks, Shaw Local will evaluate how each position group did over the past season and start looking toward the offseason. Here’s a look at the cornerback room.
Cornerbacks
Returning players: Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell, Zah Frazier, Dallis Flowers, Dontae Manning
Free agents: Nahshon Wright, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jaylon Jones, Nick McCloud
Looking back: The cornerback room was the Bears’ deepest heading into the season. Chicago needed every bit of it and more.
The Bears’ cornerback room was its most-injured unit throughout the season, highlighted by its star players. Jaylon Johnson and Gordon combined to miss 24 games because of their respective injuries. Jaylon Johnson didn’t play in 10 games after he missed training camp and had core surgery to repair a groin injury in Week 2. Gordon missed 14 games after a couple stints on injured reserve.
Other parts of the room dealt with injuries as well. Stevenson didn’t play in three games because of injury, while Smith – the unit’s dependable backup and an impactful special teams player – missed the entire season after injuring his knee during the preseason.
That forced others to step up. Wright exceeded expectations, if there were any, by putting together a career season and stepping in for Jaylon Johnson. He led the NFL with eight takeaways and finished tied for second with five interceptions. It led to Wright’s first Pro Bowl nod.
Gardner-Johnson also stepped up for the Bears in place of Gordon after the team signed him in at the end of October. He played the slot cornerback role well and finished with two interceptions and a forced fumbled in 10 game with Chicago.
Stevenson had mixed results in his third season. The former second-round pick had a good start to the year when he had an interception and two fumble recoveries over the first four games. But his play stalled throughout the year, and he eventually lost his spot in the starting lineup, losing snaps once Jaylon Johnson returned.
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What’s next: Some of those big performances from 2025 will force Poles to make some tough decisions in the cornerback room moving forward.
The biggest will be whether he’ll want to bring back Wright after a career year. Wright will likely garner a big contract from some team during free agency, as he played up to his potential with his ability to create turnovers because of his length. After playing for three teams during his five-year career, Wright will likely want to secure his future.
Poles would likely be open to bringing back Wright at a certain cost. Jaylon Johnson already has the third-highest salary cap hit next season at $25 million, according to Spotrac, while Gordon will start the first year of his extension and have a $13.3 million cap hit. Other teams might price Wright out of Poles’ budget.
Chicago will also need to decide whether it wants to engage in contract negotiations with Stevenson, who has one year left on his rookie deal. He regrouped well from a second year that was marred by a bad decision against the Washington Commanders. But once Jaylon Johnson became healthier down the stretch, the Bears chose to go with him and Wright for a majority of the snaps while Stevenson stepped in at times.
Gardner-Johnson will likely move on after putting together a good stint with the Bears with Gordon set to be fully healthy next season. Poles said that Smith should be ready to return at some point this offseason.
A big question is what Frazier will look like. Chicago drafted Frazier in the fifth round out of UTSA in April, but he missed the entire season for personal reasons. Poles expected Frazier to participate in all offseason activities, and it’ll be interesting to see how he looks after a year away.
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