Chicago Bears right tackle Darnell Wright agreed to a four-year, $116 million contract extension on Tuesday, August 4, NFL Network reported. The deal carries $93 million in guarantees, the most guaranteed money in any contract given to an offensive lineman in league history.
The extension averages $29 million per year, making Wright the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL and the second-highest-paid tackle overall, behind Washington's Laremy Tunsil at $30.1 million. In total value it passes the four-year, $112 million deal Detroit's Penei Sewell signed, which had been the richest contract given to a right tackle. Wright was already under team control through 2027 by way of his fifth-year option, so the new money extends Chicago's hold on him well past that.
Wright arrived in Chicago as the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 draft, after the Bears traded down one slot from No. 9 with Philadelphia and picked up a 2024 fourth-round pick for moving. He came out of Tennessee, where he started 42 of 47 games across four seasons — 27 at right tackle, 13 at left tackle and two at right guard — and did not surrender a sack over his final 19 college games. He was a unanimous first-team All-SEC pick in his last season there.
Wright has played at least 16 games in each of his first three NFL seasons and was named second-team All-Pro in 2025. He plays right tackle in front of quarterback Caleb Williams, and the deal was agreed during training camp, before the 2026 season opens. Elsewhere in the league this offseason, contract talks have gone the other way: Tampa Bay defensive tackle Vita Vea requested a trade in July after his negotiations stalled.
Chicago reached the playoffs last season and beat Green Bay 31-27 on Wild Card Weekend in January after trailing by 18. The extension is the second NFL record set on August 4: Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson agreed to a three-year extension the same day that carries $51 million guaranteed, the most ever for a running back. A Vinod Khosla-led group bought the Seattle Seahawks for a record $9.6 billion in July.
The run continued the next day. Baltimore signed wide receiver Zay Flowers to a four-year, $140 million extension with $108 million guaranteed, making him the third 2023 first-round pick to sign an extension in three days.
A day later, Jahmyr Gibbs reset the running back market with a three-year, $67.5 million Lions extension.
Source: NFL.com
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