A closer look at Darnell Wright's contract extension with Bears has telling details

As expected, the Chicago Bears rewarded Darnell Wright with a contract, making him the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL. And by all accounts, with head coach Ben Johnson making his stance clear, right tackle is where Wright will stay for the duration.

The reported four-year, $116 million contract extension with $93 million guaranteed now has Wright under contract through 2031. The Bears picked up his fifth-year option this offseason, so the new contract adds to that, keeping him around just that much longer.

Of course, when it comes to big contracts like this, potential devils can be hidden in the details. For example, immediate reports don't get specific about how the guaranteed money is structured.

So let's dive into the details of Wright's contract and see if there are any of those devils.

A look at Darnell Wright's mega contract extension with Bears

According to Spotrac, Wright got $42.18 million fully guaranteed at signing, broken down this way.

• $19,072,000 signing bonus
• $2,464,308 2026 roster bonus
• $1,145,000 2026 base salary
• $1,500,000 2027 base salary
• $18 million 2027 option bonus

The remaining guaranteed money looks like like this.

• $22.5 million base salary for 2028 becomes full guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year
• $22.5 million base salary for 2029 becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2028 league year
• $5,818,691 of 2030 base salary becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of that league year

All of that indeed adds up to about $93 million in guaranteed money, as was reported, and how Wright can collect it is very straightforward.

As Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac noted, Wright is due, as a practical matter, $116.2 million over the next five seasons. As is common when a big contract is interlaced with a fifth-year option, the Bears have reduced Wright's 2027 cap hit from where it would have been if his fifth-year option had remained intact without an extension.

Another interesting development in Wright's contract is a lack of void years. Tacking on void years has become a popular mechanism for teams to further stretch out the proration of bonus money over the course of a multi-year deal, and thus reduce yearly salary cap hits. The Bears did not do that here. They can, however, cut Wright in 2031 with zero dead money left behind.

Wright's mega-contract to keep him a Bear for the foreseeable future is as simple and as cut-and-dry as it gets, with no incentives or escalators to artificially inflate numbers or create an "up to" total. The total guaranteed money, which he should see around $87 million of without issue, is as reported.

Read more: Bears have gotten a very welcome injury update among a rash of camp maladies

Wright has earned a handsome payday, and he has a path to getting every dime the initial reports professed he would.

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