Last season, Chicago Bears right tackle Darnell Wright became one of the best right tackles in the NFL. If not for Penei Sewell of the Detroit Lions, who is now moving to left tackle by the way, he would've been the First Team All-Pro at the position.
The Bears picked up Wright's fifth-year option for 2027 well before the May 1 deadline. But that's often just a placeholder for a long-term deal with a player of Wright's standing, which general manager Ryan Poles quickly confirmed after the fifth-year option was picked up.
"We’ll work on a potential extension here in the near future", Poles said in April, via Chris Emma of104.3 The Score.
If we hypothetically remove Sewell as the highest-paid right tackle in the league, since he won't be playing the position now, $25 million per year would be the top of the market at the position. Wright could land in that vicinity with his looming new deal.
Bears beat writer offers a timeline for Darnell Wright contract extension
During a recent appearance on ESPN 1000's "Waddle and Silvy", ESPN Bears beat reporter Courtney Cronin was asked if she thinks a contract extension with Wright will get done.
The obvious answer is yes, as Cronin said. The better question would have been when it might be done. Seemingly with that in mind, Cronin used some recent Bears' history with these matters to offer her opinion on the timeline for Wright's new deal.
"I think it will be done before training camp," Cronin said. "That's typically when they do these. They did Cole Kmet's around then, did DJ Moore's. The team wants to extend him. They're in talks. There's no rush to do it, I wouldn't say, but I think this is a no-brainer that they're gonna get it done, and get it done quickly."
Wright is not at all likely to hold out if he doesn't have a contract extension before training camp. And he really shouldn't anyway, because then he'd be subject to fines for not being present.
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If Wright's agent is trying to get him a deal that would make him the highest-paid right tackle in the league, the Bears might oblige since they have not hidden their view of him as a long-term fixture. So news of a deal before training camp is definitely possible, to the point it feels likely.