At 4-3 under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, the Chicago Bears are still right in the playoff mix. But injuries could easily be what keeps Johnson and his squad from doing something they haven’t pulled off since 2020—making the postseason. To put it in perspective, the Bears’ secondary has been hit hard through the first eight weeks.

It was clear Chicago needed help in the backfield, and they finally got some. On Wednesday morning, the team signed veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to bolster a thin secondary. Gardner-Johnson brings much-needed experience to Chicago; there’s no denying it. But there’s a catch.

As per The Athletic, Gardner-Johnson’s signing “may keep the Bears out of the trade market for a cornerback.” Ahead of the November 4 trade deadline, that’s something worth giving attention to. The reasoning is pretty simple.

Ahead of their Week 9 clash against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Bears are without cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson (groin) and Kyler Gordon (calf/groin), who are on injured reserve. To make things worse, Tyrique Stevenson also missed last Week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Bears’ Pro Bowl cornerback Johnson has been out indefinitely since undergoing core muscle surgery in September. As for Gordon, there’s not much good news either. According to ESPN, he’s expected to miss at least three more games after being placed on injured reserve. Last and hopefully least, Stevenson surely returned to practice on Wednesday, but it’s still unclear if he’ll be ready to play against the Bengals.

“Our injury report last week was pretty [lengthy] and then this week, same thing,” Ben Johnson sounded cautious. “We’ve got guys dinged up and in and out. We have an opportunity, and he (Gardner-Johnson) was available. He’s a good football player. There are a number of us that have been with him in the past, and so it’s a good fit.”

That said, the Bears have added Gardner-Johnson to bolster an injured secondary. However, his signing could deter the team from considering a trade for another cornerback. The team might look to add some more depth on the defensive side of the ball, though.

Ben Johnson needs reinforcement on the edge

Aside from the injury bug, the pass rush has been another big headache for Ben Johnson and the Bears’ defense. And just when things couldn’t get worse, Shemar Turner and Dominique Robinson both went down in Week 8: Turner with a torn ACL and Robinson with a high ankle sprain.

Which raises the question: could the Bears look to the trade market to boost their edge depth? The Athletic reports that a couple of injuries on the edge could prompt the general manager, Ryan Poles, to make a move by giving up a late-round draft pick to bring in a defensive end.

And you can tell why. Austin Booker returned to the team last week as No. 3 DE, no doubt. But the Bears lack depth on the edge. To put that in perspective, the pass rush has been ugly through eight weeks of the season. The Bears are struggling to contain the opposition quarterbacks.

Their front four has totaled just 14 sacks so far and ranks 25th in the league. The defensive struggles are clear. Pass rush isn’t dominating, and the secondary is banged up. Ben Johnson and his staff now need to find a way to create a steady pass rush and take some of that pressure off the secondary.