Did Alarms Sound for Bears Secondary?

Analysis: Get ready, Ryan Poles is already talking about how he hopes to keep Jayon Johnson, and we've all seen what can happen next.

Ryan Poles ended the draft's second night at Halas Hall talking about his cornerback group while touching on the future.

The Bears and Jaylon Johnson have to hope Poles' wishes work out better than in the past.

"I think we have a really good group," Poles said about the cornerbacks, after selecting second-rounder Tyrique Stevenson of Miami. "For a while."

The starters are young, so it's a reasonable comment. Jaylon Johnson is the old guy at 24 years, 10 days at this writing, and with three seasons already of experience.

"Jalen—I hope he is the guy that we get to keep here for a while, too," Poles said. "I'm excited about that group inside and outside and the depth of it as well."

Then there's that.

Johnson is in the last season of his rookie contract and they will need to get him an extension.

Poles said he really liked running back David Montgomery. Now Montgomery wears the Honolulu blue of the Detroit Lions.

Poles had said he hoped to sign Roquan Smith to a second contract, and those talks deterioriated into public embarassment, shock and insults as Smith felt he needed to go to Twitter to get after the Bears GM. And, of course, Smith now is a Baltimore Ravens linebacker.

So Poles' record in contract negotiations isn't exactly stellar. It's the one part of this he has yet to successfully complete. 

The only second contracts for Bears players under him were for veteran long snapper Patrick Scales and receivers Equanimeous St. Brown and Dante Pettis. Scales and St. Brown were free agent players on one-year contracts  and not players they had drafted. The contracts were barely above veteran minimum deals, anyway, so they were haggle-free.

Poles was asked whether the intent is to use Gordon in the slot now instead of moving him outside, and he answered in the affirmative. They hope to keep Stevenson on the outside even though he did play slot some in college.

"Yeah, I think any time you can add to that unit," Poles said about cornerbacks, and in particular Stevenson, whom he drafted by trading up five spots and giving away the first pick in Round 5 to Jacksonville. "Corners are hard to find, and you always want to play—regardless of position—you want to put guys in a position where they feel most comfortable and they can play fast.

"Obviously, like I said before, this is on paper. The guys have to compete and earn their jobs, and hopefully it plays out a certain way, and it makes us better and more competitive and deeper. We'll see how it goes."

It looks like a competitive group on paper. With Kindle Vildor squeezed out of a starting spot, it gives them more experienced depth.

That is, unless contract extension talks with Johnson go haywire. In Johnson's case, he wouldn't be alone. Poles is going to have to get contracts to wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, as well as tight end Cole Kmet.

Poles is a very young GM and learning quickly. He's spent the last few days obtaining players and has been in two drafts as well as two free agency periods now. 

Perhaps the next thing he learns is how to keep players.

It will be interesting to see if there are any more cornerbacks taken with the two picks the Bears have in Round 4, one in Round 5, and two in Round 7.

It's always best to be covered in case of disaster.

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