Chicago Bears' general manager Ryan Poles has done a precarious job since taking over the role in 2022 and facilitating the rebuild of the organization.
Just like any general manager in the NFL, Poles has had his fair share of misses on the open market (such as Nate Davis) and through the draft (such as Velus Jones Jr.). But, he's still been able to land quality players to help build the roster.
Recency helps when looking at Poles' blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers that gifted the Bears a stud in DJ Moore, a future franchise quarterback in rookie Caleb Williams, and more to come. The massive deal also overshadowed some of the prior success Poles had in the draft during his first two years with the team.
Four of Poles' gems he found outside of the first round in his first draft as a general manager in 2022 are in line for some pay bonuses in 2025 thanks to the Proven Performance Escalator, an incentive that serves as a fourth-year salary escalator for players on rookie contracts not drafted in the first round.
Those four players eligible for bonuses are slot cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker, left tackle Braxton Jones, and safety Elijah Hicks. The PPE is broken down into three different levels, here's what those three levels mean and which ones these four players qualify for going into next season.
How the Proven Performance Escalator works
Level 1: If a player participates in a certain percentage of a team's offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons, or averages that percentage of offensive or defensive snaps over his entire first three years. For 2nd round picks, the average is 60%, and for 3rd-7th round picks it is 35%. Those who qualify will have a new salary amount of the original draft round RFA tender.
Level 2: If the player participates in at least 55% of the team's offensive/defensive snaps in each of his first three seasons. Those who qualify will have a new salary amount of the original draft round RFA tender + $250k.
Level 3: If the player is an original Pro Bowl selection in any of his first three seasons. Those who qualify will have a new salary amount of the second-round RFA tender (projected by OTC to be $5.217 million).
For the Bears, two players will qualify for the level 2 PPE bonus (Kyler Gordon and Braxton Jones) while the other two (Jaquan Brisker and Elijah Hicks) qualify for the level 1 PPE bonus.
Gordon, Jones, and Brisker have all been consistent starters for Chicago since being drafted in 2022 but all three have dealt with their fair share of injuries. Gordon and Jones were still able to meet the 55% threshold to get the higher bonus, but not Brisker after his latest injury this season.
Brisker suffered a concussion way back in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers. The team's starting safety hasn't been able to clear protocol since and is still on the injured reserve with two games left in the season. As a result, he's only played 33.2% of the defensive snaps.
The concussion was the third one in as many years for the young defensive back, but this one has clearly been much more serious. In 2022, Brisker still played 87.8% of the snaps after missing two games and 83.6% of the snaps in 2023 after missing another two games. Brisker's situation this year has been frustrating for sure and now it's going to force him to miss out on some extra bonus money in 2025.
Good news for Brisker is that he's a staple and rising star for the Bears' defense, as is Gordon. Both players will soon be in line for extensions with the team and be around for years to come in Chicago. As for Jones, the future of the team's left tackle is still a little cloudy. While he's been serviceable at the position, the Bears could look for a more consistent option with a higher upside to protect Williams' blindside.
Nevertheless, each of these four players will be in line to get some added dough to their wallets in 2025. Gordon and Jones will be getting around $3.25M extra added to their 2025 salary while Brisker and Hicks will be getting an extra $3M added. In total, the PPE bonuses will add at least $12.5M to the Bears' cap hit in 2025.
It's important to remember that these new salaries are not fully guaranteed, although the Bears will be inclined to pay all four of them given the impact each of these four players have given to the team in their various roles since 2022.
