3 Underrated Bears Who Have Earned Contract Extensions

2. Braxton Jones, Tackle

Braxton Jones has been an absolute steal for the Bears. It's hard to find a good left tackle, and it's even harder to find one with a fifth-round draft pick.

But we've now seen Braxton make 28 starts across his first two seasons in Chicago, and he's very clearly a good left tackle.

He'll continue to cost the Bears almost nothing with cap hits of $1.1 and $1.2 million over the next two seasons while he plays out his rookie contract, but after that you can expect his salary to soar. For context, 16 left tackles make an average of $10 million or more right now, and NFL contracts are only increasing by the year.

Am extension is already going to be an expensive proposition for Chicago, but the time to make that deal is now.

Whether it's Caleb Williams or Justin FIelds with another year of development under his belt, this offense will improve in 2024. And with it will hopefully come a playoff push. At that point, Jones' leverage goes way up.

We can expect him to improve anyway, but anchoring the line in a playoff offense suddenly lets him start to ask for more and more in contract negotiations. The most cost-effective way to keep him around is with an extension this offseason.