GM Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears don’t have many pressing contract issues at the moment, which is a blessing. Their only notable in-house moves were locking down new arrival Jonah Jackson to an additional year and securing a few of their key special teams guys like Josh Blackwell and Amen Ogbongbemiga. Another guard, Joe Thuney, is also somebody who will likely get his extension at some point. However, most agree that the next man up for his payday has to be nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon.
He pieced together another strong season in 2024. The numbers won’t show it, but his presence was felt all over the field. He was sticky in coverage, tackled well against the run, and was dangerous when given opportunities to blitz the quarterback. New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen singled him out by name as somebody he can’t wait to work with. That endorsement seems to have emboldened Poles to work hard on locking up the 25-year-old to an extension soon.
“That will still be a priority. 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. 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. So the timing of that, I’m not sure how that all is going to work out, but that is a priority.”
Ryan Poles should have some clear guidelines for Gordon.
As of now, Jourdan Lewis of the Jacksonville Jaguars is the highest-paid nickel cornerback in the NFL at $10 million per year. It is a safe assumption Gordon will want more than that. The question is how much more. If he’s fine with $11 million per year, that shouldn’t be difficult to hammer out. However, the problem becomes whether he feels his value goes higher than that. To date, his production doesn’t warrant resetting the market in any way. That means if he wants a significant payday, he may have to gamble on playing out the rest of his contract in 2025, hoping to deliver that breakout season. Ryan Poles has shown in the past that he is a shrewd negotiator. He’s not afraid to find a number he deems fair for a player and stick to it. Jaylon Johnson found that out. Gordon might be better served taking the money now.
