The Bears’ 2025 offensive line overhaul produced multiple All-Pro nods, but the group has since encountered turbulence. Drew Dalman surprisingly retired after his first Chicago season; that followed an Ozzy Trapilo injury expected to keep him out for most (if not all) of the 2026 season.
Although the team imported two new guards (Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson) via trade last year and changed left tackles midseason, Darnell Wright remains the constant on this front. After a breakthrough 2025 slate, Wright has secured a sizable guarantee. The Bears are picking up their right tackle’s fifth-year option, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.
Wright earned second-team All-Pro status, but as the Trent McDuffie option number illustrated last year, All-Pro accolades are not factored into the option formula (only original-ballot Pro Bowl invites). As such, Wright — who has yet to make a Pro Bowl — lands on the second run of the O-line option ladder. This comes out to a $19.07MM 2027 guarantee, one the Titans are also authorizing for Peter Skoronski. The Bears chose Wright one spot ahead of Skoronski in 2023 (at No. 10 overall) and have seen strong returns from the Tennessee alum.
Chicago agreed to move down one spot with Philadelphia, giving the Eagles access to controversial prospect Jalen Carter. While the Bears ended up with a lower-profile rookie in Wright, he became an instant starter and has lined up with the team’s first-stringers in all 49 games played. Wright, 24, joined Thuney as an All-Pro on this O-line last season. Dalman made the Pro Bowl; the Bears have since traded for Garrett Bradbury to replace him.
Now extension-eligible, Wright has a path to becoming the NFL’s highest-paid RT. Penei Sewell currently holds that distinction, with a $28MM-per-year contract, but is likely to slide to left tackle after the Lions’ Taylor Decker release. Tristan Wirfs also moved to the blind side. Lane Johnson is tied to a $25MM-AAV deal; he is nearing an age-36 season. Wright should be able to approach Sewell territory, creating a good problem for a Bears team that has two higher-end salaries at guard (but no longer one at center) to go with an ascending quarterback set to become extension-eligible in 2027.
ESPN’s pass block win rate metric slotted Wright fourth among tackles last season, while Pro Football Focus ranked Wright 15th among all tackles in his third season. Wright placed ninth among all tackles in 2024 pass block win rate, setting the stage for his All-Pro emergence. The Bears will be able to pair a Wright extension with Trapilo’s rookie contract for a bit, though Braxton Jones remains in the picture — thanks to Trapilo’s patellar tendon tear — for another season.
They’ll extend him, but they may wait til next offseason to do it. I could be wrong, but they have very little cap space now but quite a bit more in ’27.
Agreed. Picking up the 5th year option doesn’t mean anything except guaranteeing he’ll be here next year. I’m sure a long term pact is in the works and next year the Bears will have more money than this year. Excellent move. Still may end up the LT before it’s all said and done.
Improved his stock massively this year, he deserves it
It’s not that often that the Bears management get something Wright.
😂
No doubt this decision was expected. Wright is an overall solid player. As mentioned above by rondon lots of money potentially freeing up next off season. One thing that’s surprising me to this point is no restructuring so far. Depending on what source the Bears have anywhere from 200,000 to just above 500,000 in cap space. Lowest in the NFL.From what I read and hear a team typically looks at 10-15 million into the draft. That allows signing your picks and having some leftovers for signing a potential cut or two from another team into the remainder of the off season. It can be easily accomplished I guess. Just surprised it’s taking so long as other teams have already made moves.
I think it’s because restructuring is a losers game for the most part. It’s just sliding money down the road. That gets to be a bad habit. Poles bit the bullet last year for a new head coach but kept it real with most of the money being guaranteed for only 2 years. This year he can save money by moving out a couple of guys and adding draft picks at the same time. They could move Kmet and Gordon and save most of 25 million and accomplish the same goal. Then next year move on from some guys depending on how this year goes. The Bears won without Gordon and JJ all year. So moving Gordon shouldn’t be a big deal. Now if the Bears can get one of those safeties with 25 fine. If not they can draft a CB and move Gordon and be better off. A long shot would be move Gordon to S. There are a lot of ways to go but I would hope restructuring would be a last resort. They might have to do some to get some maneuvering room after 6/1 or the final cut down days if someone becomes available. But let’s see how the draft goes first I say.