Backup QB Tyson Bagent signs 2-year contract extension with Bears

Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune on Aug 20, 2025

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — Chicago Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent has signed a two-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.

The two-year deal is worth a reported $10 million with a maximum value of $16 million with incentives. Bagent, a former undrafted quarterback out of Division II Shepherd University, was entering the final year of his contract in 2025.

The new deal will keep Bagent under team control through 2027. It’s also a significant raise for Bagent, who is set to make just over $1 million in 2025.

Bagent has been the team’s primary backup quarterback for the last two seasons. He was something of a revelation when he emerged seemingly out of nowhere in 2023 and earned the backup job behind Justin Fields after beating out veteran backup P.J. Walker in training camp.

Bagent started four games as a rookie in place of an injured Fields, and he kept the Bears afloat with a 2-2 record during that stretch. He has appeared in nine career regular-season games.

“He had an early opportunity to play and really gets called into action and goes .500 in the NFL straight out of Shepherd, which just showed what he was all about and it’s not too big for him,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles told the Chicago Tribune. “Then we’ve just seen him grow and develop as the years have gone by. Then we saw just an extra uptick in his development and efficiency since Ben (Johnson) has been here.”

The first-year coach praised Bagent, too, during his media session Wednesday at Halas Hall. Asked if Bagent could be a starting quarterback in the NFL, Johnson didn’t hesitate.

“I don’t think there’s any question about it,” Johnson said. “I’ve really been blown away by his approach from the spring to start of camp to where we are now. He does a tremendous job knowing what to do, how to do it and getting it done.

“So I don’t think you can have enough talent in that room. I think we actually have one of the best (quarterback) rooms in the NFL, certainly that I’ve been around in my career from top to bottom.”

The Bears love Bagent’s work ethic. He eats and sleeps football. He does one-mile burpee-broad-jump challenges for fun when he goes back home to West Virginia. The challenge is exactly what it sounds like: a burpee followed by a broad jump, rinse and repeat for a mile. Crazy workouts like that are how Bagent and his buddies celebrate birthdays.

Bagent’s dad was a world champion arm wrestler and runs a CrossFit gym. Asked before his first start what he would be doing if he weren’t getting a shot in the NFL, the younger Bagent said he would still be in a gym somewhere.

“I was going to basically just CrossFit my life away, get as ripped and jacked as I possibly could,” he said.

Luckily for him, football is working out — although luck doesn’t seem to be a large part of the equation for Bagent.

“The harder I work the luckier I get,” Bagent said after Sunday’s preseason win over the Bills. “Just trying to keep that thing going.”

The Bears signed veteran quarterback Case Keenum in the offseason, but Bagent has emerged as the primary backup after initially splitting time with Keenum. Keenum’s veteran voice likely will remain an important one in the locker room, but the new contract only cements Bagent’s place as the primary backup for starter Caleb Williams moving forward.

“I know in this league, if you lose your starter, that’s a tough place to be,” Poles said. “In this building, having someone like Tyson be able to step in, if it’s a month he’s got to come in, we feel really confident that he can operate and continue to help us win football games.”