Why It Might Be Time For The Bears To Consider Life After Kyler Gordon

The Chicago Bears‘ defense really struggled at times last season. Part of the reason for that was injuries. Several key players were lost for long stretches, often a month or more. Jaylon Johnson didn’t return until midway through the season after a nasty groin issue popped up during the summer. Free agent Grady Jarrett developed a knee problem that hampered him for weeks. Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles. Shemar Turner tore his ACL. Tremaine Edmunds missed a month. T.J. Edwards missed two months. Austin Booker didn’t debut until week nine after a preseason knee injury. Yet none were as frustrating as Kyler Gordon.

Chicago’s former 2nd round pick has flashed loads of high-end capability since arriving in 2022. When he’s on the field, the young cornerback is an X-factor who impacts games in multiple ways. Unfortunately, Gordon has developed a reputation for always being hurt. He missed 13 games last season, including two separate stints on Injured Reserve. Almost all the ailments were soft-tissue in nature, raising questions about his preparation and conditioning. Now, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, it has already happened again.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was married at the beginning of May according to his Instagram account, has yet to report. That’s not overly surprising given how he has operated.

And nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, who sources said wasn’t with the team at the outset of the offseason program, has since been out with a soft-tissue injury. Gordon missed 14 regular-season games in 2025 and had two stints on injured reserve with groin, hamstring and calf injuries that initially sidelined him in the first week of August.

Kyler Gordon is fast becoming a sunk cost.

Remember, the Bears signed him to a three-year, $40 million extension in April of 2024. Even then, it was considered a risk since the cornerback had missed nine games over the previous three years with various injuries. Still, they felt his talent was worth it. Gordon then went on to play in just three games last season. He counts $12.9 million against the salary cap this year. At some point, the organization has to step back and ask the difficult question. How many more opportunities should they give him before it’s enough?

Being injured again before OTAs have even started is a fitting encapsulation of Kyler Gordon. It is always something. For a player who calls himself Spiderman, he sure doesn’t have the same durability as Peter Parker. Cutting him is out of the question. The Bears would be on the hook for too much dead money. That leaves two options. Either the team decides to put his starting job up for grabs in training camp, or they look to trade him. The latter would net the team $10 million in cap space.

Would anybody be willing to take the risk? That is the difficult part.

Gordon, at the very least, has squandered his grace period.

The Bears held plenty of belief in him when they offered that contract. He was looking like somebody who could be the best nickel corner in the NFL. Sadly, he’s slipping more and more into that category of “what if he’d stayed healthy?” Make no mistake, this doesn’t feel like a coaching staff that will maintain the status quo. They drafted Malik Muhammad in the 4th round for a reason. Cam Lewis was also brought over from Buffalo. He has nickel experience. Gordon won’t go unchallenged for his job this time. Either he gets his body right, or somebody else will send him to the pasture.

Some may call it bad luck. Part of that is true. Injuries are difficult to predict. However, soft tissue problems are often prevented by proper conditioning. Somewhere in his preparation, Gordon is doing something wrong. Maybe it’s his warm-up habits. Maybe it’s not using the right exercises. Whatever the case, it’s getting to a point where enough is enough. If he can’t stay on the field, then the Bears should actively search for somebody who can. This is where you trust defensive backs coach Al Davis to find the right guy.