Who Gets the Cash First?
It's going to be venturing into uncharted waters for the Bears when they get one of their own veterans signed to a contract extension.
GM Ryan Poles has yet to do this. The closest he came was when they gave another year to wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. They also gave Dante Pettis another year but his contract came after the old one expried. When he came on board last year, they signed a few veteran free agents of their own to one-year deals. DeAndre Houston-Carson was one, but it was also for only a year.
One year does not an extension make, as Yoda might say.
An extension is for multiple years and is a commitment for the future to a veteran player.
The absence of cornerback Jaylon Johnson from OTAs with his broken ring finger now fully healed can only indicate his own attempt to take matters into his own hands until he gets a contract.
Whether he'll get a deal first remains to be seen.
Last season GM Ryan Poles said the Bears liked both Roquan Smith and David Montgomery and they just needed common ground to sign them, yet that common ground must be awfully elusive because they never signed either.
Now the assumption is they'll sign one or more of their own free agents to extensions in advance of this season's start. Matt Eberflus did bring this up when questioned about adding players in an interview with former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt on the33rdteam.com.
Considering their past failure to do it with Smith and Montgomery, assumptions probably shouldn't be made.
However, they're simply not going to let all of those free agents leave.
Here's a look at the players most likely to get their contracts signed first, in order, and why.
1. TE Cole Kmet
It makes the most sense to get the cheapest contract out of the way first because there would be more haggling with the other deals. Tight ends do not make as much money as cornerbacks, wide receivers or edge rushers. There are 22 wide receivers, 20 edge rushers and seven cornerbacks averaging $15 million annual pay but only two tight ends, according to Spotrac.com. It should be easy to reach an agreement with Kmet, who has made great strides as an all-around threat at in-line tight end.
Ari Meirov, NFL Insider for the33rdteam.com, has called the four-year $52 million extension Buffalo gave Dawson Knox a general ballpark figure for a Kmet deal.
The two do have somewhat similar statistics, although Kmet is a much bigger player at 6-foot-6, 260 pounds to 6-4 and 244. Knox has more touchdown catches with 20 in four years to nine by Kmet in three years, but Kmet had a bit of a breakout in that area with seven last year. Kmet has had a better catch percentage (67%) than Knox's (64.8%) and more catches per season at 46 to 37.25. Kmet hit 50 catches or more twice while Knox has yet to do it. Kmet also has not missed a game and Knox missed four. Last year Pro Football Focus ranked Kmet 20th among tight ends and Knox 23rd. In terms of blocking, Knox was rated seventh-best run blocker by PFF among tight ends and Kmet ninth, while Kmet was 22nd best pass blocker and Dawson 30th. Kmet did have 127 more running plays to block on last year, which can explain an edge Dawson would have in run blocking grade -- it's easier to have a higher grade with fewer attempts.
At least the call for it to be in the general area of the four years and $52 million appears somewhat close. As such, with a guideline and less money involved, the Bears should pursue Kmet's deal first.
There isn't a lot of leverage working against Kmet here even though they signed Robert Tonyan Jr. for a year at $5 million. They're two different types of tight end. Tonyan is a much smaller player, 20 pounds lighter and an inch or two shorter.
2. WR Jaylon Johnson
They know who Jaylon Johnson, what he has been capable of doing and has done. The sticking point on this deal might be how the four-year cornerback has made one career interceptions. The Bears will likely use this. His traits appear more like those of a man-to-man cornerback than a zone cornerback and their system is mostly zone.
Their coaching staffs, however, have asked the impossible of Johnson and had him cover opponents' best receivers all over the field at various points in his career. The ideal situation would have been to let Johnson play his position. If they had, he might have more total interceptions.
The leverage is working against Johnson in terms of competition in this regard. The Bears went out and drafted not one, but two cornerbacks in Darnell Wright and Tyrique Stevenson, so it appears they're loading up for a tougher negotiation.
The fact Johnson isn't at Halas Hall for second straight year when they started offseason work is probably not real conducive to good feelings between the sides.
3. WR Darnell Mooney
Mooney should rate No. 1 for getting his contract first but he said in an interview with Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous that the Bears want to see him running first. The Bears need to know the ankle surgery Mooney had last year isn't going to slow down his game and he isn't even healthy enough now to practice so they're going to need to wait on this as a result.
Like with Johnson, the Bears brought in some competition at slot/Z-receiver for Mooney with speedy Tyler Scott from Cincinnati. He was drafted higher than Mooney and is regarded as a physical player despite being about the same size as Mooney. He was a physical gunner on special teams, according to Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. So Mooney might not command as big of a deal if the Bears know they can rely instead on someone providing cap relief teams get from players on their first contract.
4. WR Chase Claypool
They're saying the right things about Claypool. At least coach Matt Eberflus has hopes Claypool will be better than last year.
"I do cause him second time going around he knows the formations and the motions and knows the route disciplines," Eberflus said. "He's learning that as we go and you can certainly see him getting more comfortable adjusting too."
It has to be better than last year because 14 catches averaging 10 yards and a helmet-throwing incident weren't the way to announce your presence.
The Bears need to see something, here. Unlike with Mooney, they don't know the player as well so it will likely need to be in-game production and that might mean waiting on a contract extension.
Such situations can really lead to teams getting burned if a receiver does as desired and scorches the league, then expects to be paid like one of the best receivers.
5. DT Justin Jones
They signed Jones only after the Larry Ogunjobi failed physical fiasco. He did deliver a solid 12 tackles for loss but they need to see more in terms of finishing pass rushes to generate more turnovers. Look at it like Jones is on his second prove-it year. This time he has two rookie defensive tackles to push him, as well.
6. DE Trevis Gipson
Gipson has a shown the potential for double digit sacks based on seven in a season when he started out as a backup to Khalil Mack. The ability to pick up this defensive scheme will decide it. He may have already taken strides at this last year by becoming better against the run, according to ESPN statistics placing him as the sixth-best edge at run-stop win rate. Finishing a few more of his 18 pressures with sacks could secure him that extension but it's likely to take the season before the Bears would be convinced because they're going to still be looking for long-term help at edge rusher in next year's draft and free agency.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
