Bear Digest

Devil could be in the details regarding Kyler Gordon's Bears deal

Could the Bears be heading toward a less responsible use of their salary cap space than in the past? The breakdown of Kyler Gordon's deal could reflect this.
Gene Chamberlain|
A breakdown of Kyler Gordon's contract will be the interesting part of his three-year, $40 million deal.
A breakdown of Kyler Gordon's contract will be the interesting part of his three-year, $40 million deal. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

The real surprise about Kyler Gordon's reported three-year, $40 million contract extension is not that GM Ryan Poles wanted to get the team's slot cornerback signed through 2028.

The fun will be seeing how the deal breaks down and how it impacts their future.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the deal as $31.25 million guaranteed and signing Gordon seemed like a foregone conclusion since last season based on the way he had been playing and what Poles had said about him.

"That will still be a priority,” Poles told reporters at last month's owners meetings regarding the deal.

He called the combine and hiring of coaches a priority he had to get through first.

'For me, in our exit meetings at the end of last season, I told all the guys in terms of future, if it was contracts, coming back, anything like that, the important thing is I’ve got to get with our new coaching staff and kind of see how the different players fit based on the scheme," Poles said at the meetings. "We’ve been able to have those conversations, and I know Kyler is a guy that we want to be a part of this moving forward."

The signing of Gordon comes on the heels of a three-year, $39 million deal for Texans slot cornerback Jalen Pitre. So Gordon's is the highest in football.

The interesting part will be the contract breakdown because it could indicate the Bears' willingness to retain players going forward as cap space tightens.

Often teams use available cap space for this year in helping toward the future payment for players but the Bears are at $9.03 million available according to Overthecap.com, and actually $2.248 million after their costs for this year's draft picks are deducted.

Paying Gordon might mean they've obtained some extra cash by restructuring some other contracts, or it could simply mean they've pushed all the costs over 2026-28. So far, they haven't been willing to do much restructuring.

Contract expirations still face the Bears for after the 2025 season with their defense for defensive tackle Andrew Billings, linebacker T.J. Edwards, safety Jaquan Brisker and safety Kevin Byard. Who comes back and who doesn't might depend on how this season goes but also the willingness to get cash back out of other contracts, or borrow from the future to pay for the present.

OTC has the Bears at $35 million available for 2026 before the signing so a protated chunk for that season will hurt their chances of retaining those defensive free agents they want to retain, as well as left guard Joe Thuney and left tackle Braxton Jones.

Regardless, they know they have two high level cornerbacks as both Gordon and Jaylon Johnson are locked up.

Last year Gordon was graded 13th out of the top 116 cornerbacks Pro Football Focus graded, while Johnson was 11th.

It was by far his highest rating. He had been 109th out of 118 as a rookie and 57th of 127 in his second season, but came on strong in the second half of 2023 before a strong 2024. Of all the 222 cornerbacks PFF graded regardless of snap count, Gordon ranked 19th last year.

The 2024 season was the first one Gordon failed to make an interception but he did make three fumble recoveries and forced a fumble. He'll be going for more interceptions in the future.

“For me this year it’s definitely turnovers," he said during his recent press conference. "I was trying to find production a lot this year, just trying to get to the ball, whether it’s going away from me or not.

"Definitely turnovers are my biggest thing because if we turn the ball over that’s the biggest thing for the game of football.”

His coach said otherwise recently, but there's plenty of time for debate now that Gordon is under contract for the future.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published | Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.