This Chicago Bears roster is in such a fascinating spot. Having the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft makes it feel like the team is rebuilding, but they won seven games in an incredibly competitive NFC North last season.
The roster is mostly young, and very few players received any sort of national recognition last season, despite the Bears exceeding expectations by a big margin.
That has left a significant portion of the Bears' roster underrated by the wider NFL community. Chicago should take advantage and extend these three players while they still can.
1. T.J. Edwards, Linebacker
An undrafted free agent for the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2019, T.J. Edwards developed into an every-down starter over his four seasons with the team before hitting free agency and signing with the Bears last offseason.
Edwards' contract showed that the league wasn't fully sold on the former UDFA yet, as the Bears were able to get him for 3 years and $19.5 million. Maybe teams were worried it was the Philly system letting him thrive, or just needed to see more before they believed in him.
Edwards answered by turning in his best season yet. He was all over the field for the Chicago defense, excelling in run defense, pass coverage and even pass-rushing when asked.
The off-ball linebacker spot has become de-emphasized in the NFL in recent years, which does even more to make an impact player like Edwards underrated.
He still has two years left on his current deal, but the Bears would be wise to try to lock the 28-year-old up through the rest of his prime now rather than being forced to negotiatiate in a year or two when he'll have firmly established himself as worth a big pay day.
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.
3. Terell Smith, Cornerback
Is it too early to talk extensions for someone who just finished their rookie season? Not in this case.
Terell Smith is another fifth-round pick currently on an incredibly team-friendly deal. He suited up for 12 games (making 4 starts) as a rookie, and quickly established himself as a favorite to crack the starting lineup in 2024.
Smith was incredibly solid when he stepped up in run defense from the secondary (49 tackles and a wildly impressive 83.2 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus), and he didn't lack in coverage either. He wasn't a shutdown corner by any means, but PFF gave him a 65.4 coverage grade.
That ranked 88th out of 225 graded cornerbacks. That doesn't just mean he's in the top 40% of cornerbacks either, because the list of 225 excludes those who weren't good enough to play enough snaps to qualify for the rankings.
The rookie's only going to get better from here, so let's show him how important he is to the team's future and get him extended with a generous offer now.
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