Chicago Bears News: Projecting an extension with Darnell Mooney
The Chicago Bears will have a tough decision to make regarding Darnell Mooney and his future with the team. He will be a free agent at the end of this season, and after an injury crushed his 2022 season, this year feels make or break. Some fans are foreshadowing Tyler Scott being primed to fill in for his role when he leaves.
Projecting an extension for Darnell Mooney with Chicago Bears
Still, if the Bears do offer Mooney a contract this offseason to try to get something done before his deal is up, what would it look like?
Some of the players who have signed deals recently, and may be in the tier of Darnell Mooney include Jakobi Meyers, Courtland Sutton, Corey Davis, Hunter Renfrow, and Allen Lazard. Most can agree that Mooney is not definitively better or worse than most of those names. Below we see how they compare. We will use per-game because Mooney had injuries, as did Courtland Sutton.
Name | Catches/G | Yards/G | TDs/G |
|---|---|---|---|
Jakobi Meyers | 3.9 | 46 | 0.1 |
Courtland Sutton | 3.7 | 53.6 | 0.2 |
Corey Davis | 3.5 | 49.7 | 0.2 |
Darnell Mooney | 4 | 48.4 | 0.2 |
Hunter Renfrow | 4.4 | 46.9 | 0.3 |
Allen Lazard | 3 | 39.2 | 0.4 |
Darnell Mooney sits about dead in the middle across the board. He is second in catches per game, but if you take away the rookie season of Jakobi Meyers, his last few years are ahead of Mooney. Still, Mooney is third in yards per game and tied for third in touchdowns.
Now, we see how this group looks when it comes to the salary cap. Below are the contracts that each person signed recently.
Name | Years | AAV | GTD |
|---|---|---|---|
Jakobi Meyers | 3 | $11M | $21M |
Courtland Sutton | 4 | $15.2M | $34.9M |
Corey Davis | 3 | $12.5M | $27M |
Hunter Renfrow | 2 | $16.16M | $21M |
Allen Lazard | 4 | $11M | $22M |
Average | 3.2 | $13.17M | $25.2M |
So, the range we are working with is $11-$16M, and $21-$35M in guarantees. Mooney is probably looking at the Allen Lazard deal and thinking if he were a free agent this offseason he could at least get that type of money.
Considering Darnell Mooney was about in the average of these five statistically, the average of these deals is worth looking at. A 3-year deal worth $39.51M and about $25.2M in guaranteed salary is about what Darnell Mooney could be looking for.
Projecting a Cole Kmet extension. dark. Next
This is what will make it tricky. The Chicago Bears will know that Mooney thinks and probably will get this type of deal on the open market. It is a fair deal based on his worth, but is it a deal that this specific team wants to invest in Mooney? Do they realize that they could have Tyler Scott step in and save the $13M per year, or do they offer Darnell Mooney a contract this offseason?