Bears lock up Darnell Wright with $116M extension

The Bears aren't messing around this offseason. Chicago and right tackle Darnell Wright agreed Tuesday on a 4-year extension worth $116 million, with $93 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.

That $29 million-a-year average makes Wright the highest-paid right tackle in NFL history. Only Washington's Laremy Tunsil, at $30.1 million per year, sits ahead of him among all offensive tackles league-wide. For a guy who was drafted 10th overall out of Tennessee just 3 years ago, that's a massive statement from Ryan Poles' front office.

Adam Schefter confirmed the framework of the deal not long after the initial report broke, and the Bears made it official Tuesday night, announcing they'd signed Wright through the 2031 season.

Wright has earned this. He's started all 49 games he's played in over 3 seasons, missing just 2 outings total, and he capped last year with second-team All-Pro honors despite battling through an elbow injury. He reportedly ranked among the league's best pass-blocking tackles in 2025, and Chicago clearly wasn't willing to let a player that reliable and that young hit the open market down the road.

This is also very obviously a move to protect Caleb Williams. The Bears have been building out the offensive line around their young quarterback all offseason, and locking up Wright through 2031 gives Williams a known commodity on his blind side edge for years to come. Signing him after just 6 training camp practices tells you Poles wasn't interested in letting this drag into the season.

The move fits a broader pattern around the league of teams paying premium money to protect their quarterbacks up front, and it's a signal that Chicago views its current core, Williams included, as one worth building around long-term rather than one more offseason of patchwork fixes.