The Bears agreed to terms with cornerback Kyler Gordon on a three-year, $40MM contract extension, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Gordon, the 39th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was entering the final year of his rookie contract and Bears general manager Ryan Poles identified an extension as a “priority” at league meetings at the beginning of April. Less than two weeks later, the 25-year-old is under contract through the 2028 season as a vital piece of Chicago’s secondary.
Gordon’s $13.33MM APY and $31.25MM in guaranteed money are the highest of any nickel defender in the NFL, surpassing the deal signed by Jalen Pitre last week. Gordon’s salary still places him outside of the league’s top-20 highest-paid cornerbacks, reflecting the smaller market for players who line up almost exclusively in the slot.
Gordon hasn’t spent a significant amount of time on the boundary since his rookie year, when he started 14 games and notched three interceptions. He then moved into the slot full-time in 2023, which featured two more interceptions in 13 appearances as well as a stint on injured reserve. Gordon appeared in 15 games in 2024 and finished the year as the Bears’ second-highest-graded defender by Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
This is the second straight offseason in which Chicago extended one of its young starting cornerbacks. The team signed 2020 second-rounder Jaylon Johnson to a four-year, $76MM extension in March 2024, and another second-round corner, Tyrique Stevenson, will be extension-eligible after the 2025 season. After extending Gordon, the Bears now have all three signed through 2026.
The Bears’ remaining candidates for offseason extensions are left tackle Braxton Jones and linebacker T.J. Edwards, both of whom are entering the last year of their rookie deals.