Bears coach Ben Johnson may have put GM Ryan Poles at a bit of a disadvantage already for free agency negotiations.

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen may have, as well.

The Bears coaches already offered up high praise for two players in line to receive contract extensions well in advance of any deadline.

One of those players was slot cornerback Kyler Gordon.

“Secondary wise, I think Gordon’s a phenomenal nickel,” Johnson said.

Allen did little to downplay Gordon’s importance.

“Kyler Gordon, is an outstanding nickel player,” he said. “I have a vision for how we can utilize him.”

The other was injured defensive tackle Andrew Billings, whose healing pectoral injury should allow him to participate at some point in offseason work, according to what Poles said.

Johnson saw the Bears defense twice without Billings after his injury.

“This year what was a little different than 2023 was Billings being out,” Johnson said. “Him being out, we could feel that when we played Chicago.”

Billings’ impact was palpable, as former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai liked to say.

These two players are in a different line of free agents than those whose fate must be addressed before the March 12 deadline.

“We have a couple guys that definitely will be up for some type of extension this offseason,” Poles said.

What isn’t clear is whether Poles was talking about these two or maybe the two main players in this free agency. The value of those they need to slot money for this year to extend before 2026 is undeniable.

Billings and Gordon are in the 2026 free agent line and not the line forming for March, but this is how the GM needs to approach this and any free agency. It is basically a two-year situation for planning out the cap and not one. With a new coaching staff in place, Poles is able to do this as they’ll know who Johnson deems a priority.