At this point, an especially busy Labor Day weekend at Halas Hall is becoming an annual tradition.
On Sunday, Bears GM Ryan Pace continued his pattern of getting early-season, in-house extensions done. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Cody Whitehair has signed a new deal:
Bears are signing guard Cody Whitehair to a 5-year, $52.5 million extension that includes $27.5 million guaranteed, per sources. The deal, negotiated by Jeff Nalley and Graylan Crain, gives Whitehair the second-largest guarantee for a guard extension in NFL history.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 1, 2019
The two sides were expected to reach an agreement, and now the Bears have their entire starting offensive line signed through the 2020 season.
Pace: “He is a great talent and unselfish teammate with a ton of pride in being a leader for us. It is always nice to reward our own and I know this will only drive Cody even more every day.”
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 1, 2019
Pace on Whitehair extension: “Cody embodies everything we look for in a Chicago Bear and I’m excited for us as an organization to extend him five more years.”
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 1, 2019
Whitehair was in the last season of his 4-year, $4 million rookie contract. The Bears drafted him with the 56th overall pick in the 2016 draft, and Whitehair has started in every game since. Despite playing all three seasons at center, he'll play guard this season, as the Bears decided to move James Daniels to center in the spring.
In that time, Whitehair's already become one of the league's best young offensive linemen. He was named to the 2016 All-Rookie team and made his first Pro Bowl last year; analytics site Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 10th best center in 2018.