Bears Make Darnell Wright NFL’s Highest-Paid Right Tackle With Record $116 Million Extension

The Chicago Bears locked up the right side of their offensive line for the foreseeable future on Tuesday, agreeing to terms with right tackle Darnell Wright on a four-year contract extension worth $116 million, including $93 million guaranteed. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport both reported the deal, which sources say makes Wright the highest-paid right tackle in NFL history and sets a new guarantee benchmark for offensive linemen at any position.

Wright, the No. 10 overall pick out of Tennessee in the 2023 draft, was entering the final year of his rookie contract before Chicago exercised his fifth-year option earlier this offseason at a fully guaranteed $19.072 million for 2027. Instead of playing out that option year and testing free agency down the line, the 24-year-old tackle and the Bears found common ground on a long-term commitment that, when combined with the two remaining seasons already on his rookie deal, ties him to Chicago through 2031.

How the Numbers Stack Up Against the Market

At an average of $29 million per year, Wright’s new deal slots in as the second-richest annual value ever for an offensive tackle, trailing only the $30.1 million per year Laremy Tunsil landed from the Washington Commanders back in March. But it’s the guarantee figure that stands out most: $93 million assures Wright gets paid regardless of injury or performance dips over the life of the deal, eclipsing every offensive lineman guarantee in league history, according to Rapoport. For context, the previous top annual figure at true right tackle belonged to Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson at $25 million per year, meaning Wright’s camp reset the position’s market by a wide margin.

The extension caps a steady four-year climb for Wright, who started all 17 games as a rookie in 2023 before missing just one game total over the following two seasons. Pro Football Focus graded him 14th among 89 qualifying tackles in 2025, highlighted by an elite 85.6 run-blocking grade that ranked 6th at the position — a number that matters given how heavily Ben Johnson’s offense leans on the ground game. Wright reportedly played through a torn UCL for much of the 2025 season and still turned in a career-best overall PFF grade, a detail that reportedly weighed heavily in convincing the Bears front office to make him a priority.

What It Means for Bears Futures and Caleb Williams Props

Chicago entered training camp with Super Bowl odds sitting around +2400 to +2500 across most books, with the Bears priced as roughly the 15th-favorite team to win it all and a modest favorite in the NFC North at close to +305. Locking down the blindside protector on Caleb Williams’ throwing arm — Wright plays opposite left tackle and has taken on RT1 duties in every one of his three NFL seasons — removes one of the lingering “what if” questions bettors had about this offensive line heading into 2026.

For futures bettors, this news doesn’t move the number by itself, but it reinforces the market’s current read on Chicago as a team that has stabilized its infrastructure around a young quarterback rather than one bracing for roster turnover up front. Caleb Williams’ passing yardage and touchdown props — both set in the mid-3,000s and mid-20s range respectively at most books — were already built on the assumption that last year’s line held together. A long-term deal for the right tackle who ranked top-10 in snaps played at the position removes downside risk from that equation, particularly for bettors weighing the over on Williams’ counting stats or the Bears’ win total, which sits at 9.5 with only a slight lean toward the over at most shops.

None of this is the kind of headline that swings a betting line on its own, but it’s exactly the sort of roster-stability news sharp bettors track heading into a season — a reminder that futures and player prop pricing often hinge as much on continuity in the trenches as it does on the skill-position names getting the buzz.