Tyson Bagent made difficult decision to stay with Bears

Tyson Bagent faced a difficult decision last week when Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles introduced the idea of a contract extension before his third season in the league.

The Bears signed Bagent to a three-year deal worth $2.7M in 2023, when he entered the league as a rookie UDFA from Division II Shepherd.

Bagent went 2-2 in four starts for the Bears in his rookie season when Justin Fields dealt with an injury. He only attempted two passes in 2024 during Caleb Williams' rookie season.

Bagent has stated publicly that he wanted to compete for a starting job in the league, something that is unlikely to happen in the next three years with Williams on the roster.

Per Courtney Cronin of ESPN, Bagent delayed signing the contract extension with the Bears because he knew the deal would stop him from being free to sign with a quarterback-needy team in the next offseason. Bears head coach Ben Johnson believes Bagent is capable of starting in the league.

He chose to sign the two-year deal worth $10M because he wanted to stay with his teammates and coaches in Chicago.

"Being around this staff and this offense, especially this staff, the offensive staff, I think that has just been the biggest part in the decision besides just how much I love the city of Chicago, how comfortable I am with everybody, but yeah, that was certainly played a role into it," Bagent said.