Ryan Poles gave Kyler Gordon, his first NFL draft pick, some serious cash. The Chicago Bears general manager sent a message to the young portions of his roster at the same time — perform and you’ll be paid.

Some Bears players have outplayed their contracts, deserve a pay bump or should be considered for one. Count T.J. Edwards chief among them.

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Edwards has a sterling résumé as a three-down, off-the-ball linebacker. The Lake Villa Lakes Community High School and University of Wisconsin product has been an excellent player since signing with the Bears in 2023, after four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Edwards has been an every-down player during his two seasons with the Bears. He had 129 tackles, including 12 for a loss, one forced fumble and two recoveries in 2024. He also had six quarterback hits, which is important on a defense with Dennis Allen calling plays, considering how much Chicago’s new coordinator loves blitzing interior linebackers.

Tremaine Edmunds could be up for such duty as well, but he comes at a much higher price tag. Edwards seems like someone you keep for a longer term, though not at the freight you’d pay for a top-tier linebacker.

Doing so would foster goodwill for the locker room, much as the Gordon deal did over the weekend.

Edwards is well liked and seen as deserving of a new deal. Giving him one would make yet another statement that the Bears are interested in extending players who perform.

If you play well, you will be rewarded. There’s no bigger carrot than that.

Edwards has a $7 million salary-cap number in 2025. If you redo a deal with him this offseason, that cap number goes down because of a signing bonus that would be prorated over the course of the contract.

Locking up Edwards is known to be a priority for the Bears, who value the player’s production and locker-room leadership.

The Bears don’t have tons of cap space left entering the 2025 season, but the number actually can go down if contract terms are done right. Edwards is the type you pay for, especially if the goal is to draft and develop a replacement for Edmunds, who is taxing the cap to the tune of $17.4 million over the next two seasons.

It’s appropriate to be in wait-and-see mode on Jaquan Brisker, an extension-eligible player who has dealt with concussion-related issues that warrant some caution.

Signing Edwards make logical sense, and the Bears have been logical to this point under new coach Ben Johnson. It will be interesting to see what they do from here, considering their cap situation and their desire to maintain proper cap health.

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