On Sunday evening, Kyler Gordon and the Chicago Bears agreed on a 3-year $40 million contract extension. This isn’t just good news, it’s incredible news. The future of the Bears is starting to take shape and Ryan Poles is finally pointing towards a concrete direction that he’s taking this roster. Let’s dive into what this extension means for the future of this team.
What Kyler Gordon’s Extension Means for the Future of the Bears
Not Letting Talent Walk
The crucial thing with drafting and developing young players is retaining their skill set on your team after you see what they are capable of. The Bears have started to do that with their players, Gordon being the most recent. As Ryan Poles mentioned after re-signing D.J. Moore to an extension last summer, “It will allow him to play free and take care of his family”. This goes the same for Gordon. He will now be able to continue to develop his skills as a nickel corner and will in theory get even better as he gains more experience.
Rewarding Homegrown Players When They Produce
Before Chicago extended Gordon, they had previously extended two other players that were drafted by the Bears. Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson were both members of the 2020 draft class and signed extensions in the last couple of years. Kmet has been on a steady rise through multiple regimes as a safety blanket for Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields, and now Caleb Williams. Jaylon Johnson on the other hand has quickly become one of the best corners in the game and can shut down an entire half of the field at any point in time.
All of this goes to show that if you put in the work from day one and produce year in and year out, you will be rewarded. Gordon has done so and projects to be even more productive in an improved scheme under new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
Keeping and Improving Team Chemistry
For those who may not know, a big part of playing in the secondary at any competitive level is about communication. Corners and safeties need to talk to each other and pass off assignments in both man and zone coverage to properly cover as much grass as possible. The group of Gordon, Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Jaquan Brisker have all been developing chemistry for a couple of years now. This allows them to use minimal communication through learning how each other will cover a certain route combination where they can shut down a play and allow the pass rush to get home before the quarterback gets a chance to get rid of the ball.
This secondary is also incredibly young too. Gordon, Johnson, and Brisker are all 25 years old and Stevenson is 24. Even their solid backup outside corner Terrell Smith is just 25 years old. This group should only get better as they play more with each other. The better they get, the more takeaways they’ll create. The more takeaways they create, the more points Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense will score.
Gordon’s Role in the New Scheme
Dennis Allen has come out multiple times saying that “we want to be an attacking aggressive style of defense. I think we want to take the fight to the offense and not let the offense dictate the tempo on us. We’re going to be aggressive; we’re going to challenge everything”.
This fits Gordon’s skillset perfectly as a slot corner. He will be able to float around near the line of scrimmage and cause havoc for the opposing offenses in the pass and run game.
Luckily for Allen, the Bears just locked up a game-changer for the next three years.
