Gervon Dexter is set to prove he’s either good or that he will become great
We roll along with our Ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove article series, and we’ve reached number eight on our list.
If you missed the first two names on the list, number 10 was Roschon Johnson; you can check out that article here, and number 9 was Jaquan Brisker; click here for his article.
Number eight, we stay on the defensive side of the ball with defensive tackle Gervon Dexter.
Some of you might be sitting here going, Gervon Dexter? What the heck is he doing on this list? He’s coming off an excellent season!
That he is, he developed quite well in 2024, which is why 2025 is so important.
Gervon Dexter is entering a contract year. He was a second-round pick, so 2026 is the final year of his rookie contract. After this season, Dexter (and Darnell Wright) are going to be due an extension.
The Chicago Bears are going to have to decide if they are committing to Dexter and how much money. If, for whatever reason, Dexter regresses this year, the Bears may want to let Dexter enter the 2026 season without a contract and see how it shakes out.
If Dexter makes little to no growth and plays in 2025 like he did in 2024, that will leave the Bears with an interesting question: how much do you pay Gervon Dexter? You aren’t going to commit major dollars to him at that point because he wouldn’t be an impact defensive tackle; he will be a good defensive tackle.
But if Dexter shows significant development again in 2025, he is going to be an impact defensive tackle that the Bears are going to want to commit $20+ million to him to anchor their defensive line.
How much did Dexter improve from 2023 to 2024? He doubled his sack total. He more than doubled his total tackles. His TFLs went from 0 to 4. His total pressures improved as well.
If PFF is your thing, in 2023, Dexter had a 50.9 overall rating, a 65.9 pass rush grade, and a 36.2 rush grade. In 2024, those numbers improved to 70.3 overall, with a 66.7 pass rush grade, and he improved his run grade to 61.1.
Dexter was the 20th-ranked DT at PFF last year among players with 500 or more snaps. If he improves his overall grade to somewhere between 75 and 80, he will be pushing towards one of PFF’s top 10-ranked DTs in 2025.
15 DTs in the NFL are making over $20 million per season. If Dexter cements himself in that territory, he’s going to earn a major contract from Chicago. But if he has a similar season to what he had in 2024, you would have to expect that he would be in the range of $12 to $16 million per season and at that point it begs two questions: would the Bears want to pay that much for a good, but not great player, but on the other side, would Dexter want to settle for that much money or would he pass on an extension and bet on himself?
It’s a fascinating year for Dexter. How good will he be this year? If he thrives under Dennis Allen, he will be considered one of the anchors to this Bears defense and will be paid accordingly. If he doesn’t improve and holds steady, it’s going to open up questions for the Bears and for Dexter as to how they want to approach 2026.
This should be a fun season for Bears fans to watch Dexter develop as we get an idea of what type of player he is going to be, but for Dexter and the Bears, his play this season will have a significant impact on what his role is with this team moving forward.