We've reached the point of the offseason where teams are beginning their mini-camps and focusing on contract extensions for the players on their current roster.
Entering the offseason, the Bears had two obvious extension candidates in Kyler Gordon and T.J. Edwards. Once the team traded for Joe Thuney, with one year remaining on his current contract, it was clear that Thuney was added to the list of extension candidates. After reaching an extension with Gordon and Edwards last month, the Bears took care of Thuney on Tuesday morning.
Fresh off Thuney's two-year extension with the Bears, there is a focus on who will be the next Bears player to be extended. There are really only two candidates worth discussing, and they are Braxton Jones and Jaquan Brisker. Sure, the likes of Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, and Tyson Bagent are free agents after 2025, but they don't merit the same conversation as Jones or Brisker.
Not every Bears' player deserves a contract extension
Jones is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and it very much sounds like the Bears are planning on replacing him as the team's starting left tackle. Darnell Wright and Ozzy Trapilo will likely be the starting tackles for the Bears next season, leaving Jones to serve as a swing tackle. Considering Jones has been a starter at left tackle since being drafted by the Bears, chances are he will be looking to get paid starter money. That type of money won't be offered by the Bears, and if it is, Ryan Poles would have made a massive mistake.
Similarly, Brisker is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Unlike Jones, when healthy, Brisker is a definitive starter at this position. The issue with the young safety is availability, as he has dealt with a concussion in each of his first three seasons with the Bears. Brisker has been cleared, and if he stays healthy for the entire 2025 season, a case can be made for the Bears to bring him back. However, that is a scenario that is unlikely based on his history.
Poles shouldn't feel obliged to sign either Jones or Brisker to a contract extension this summer. If he prioritized either deal, then that would be a risk that the Bears could have easily avoided.