Should the Chicago Bears pick up the 5th year option on Darnell Wright?

A couple of days ago, the NFL set the salary cap number for the 2026 season at t $301.2 million. That’s a healthy $22 million increase over last year, but not quite as big a jump as some predicted. Teams must all be cap-compliant by the start of the league’s new year on March 11, so with the Chicago Bears currently about $10 million over, they have a little work to do. A few restructures and releases, and they’ll get under the salary cap in no time.

Another date the Bears have to think about is the May 1 deadline for clubs to exercise the fifth-year option on players selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. With the cap set, the Bears now know what that option number will be for starting right tackle Darnell Wright, and since Wright has yet to make a Pro Bowl but has met the playing-time criteria, the 2027 option for Wright would be $19,072,000.

Wright, who will turn 25 in August, has gotten better each year, and while he’s yet to make a Pro Bowl, he’s coming off a second-team All-Pro nod. His cap hit in 2026 is $6,671,722, and since he’s played three years, he is eligible for a contract extension anytime.

Picking up the option is a no-brainer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a contract extension worth about $25 million per season is in the works.