The longest-tenured player on the Bears offense will remain in place for 2019: Right guard Kyle Long has agreed to restructure his contract, the team confirmed Tuesday.
The new deal will create salary-cap space, eliminating doubt about whether he would return for a seventh season with the organization.
The 2013 first-round draft pick was to count $8.5 million against the team’s salary cap this season with a base salary of $6.9 million, a $100,000 workout bonus and $1.5 million in proration from the signing bonus he received on his contract extension before the 2016 season.
Specifics of Long’s pay cut and the Bears’ savings remain to be seen. It’s possible the team created per-game roster bonuses in the reworked contract that will allow him to earn back some of the money, provided the three-time Pro Bowl selection remains healthy and on the field.
The Bears were projected to have about $11 million in cap space before this move. That doesn’t take into account the release of kicker Cody Parkey, which officially has not been made. Parkey is fully guaranteed $3.5 million for next season.
Injuries have been a consistent issue for Long since 2016, when he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder even before the Bears rewarded him with what was a four-year, $40 million extension. Then, he suffered a gruesome right ankle injury that season, leading to an arduous recovery process.
Long missed eight games in 2016 but made it back to onto the field by the third week of the 2017 season. He played in 10 games with nine starts before being placed on injured reserve in the final month of the season because of the original shoulder injury. He underwent three surgeries last offseason to repair the shoulder, neck and elbow injuries. Long played in eight games last season, suffering a foot injury against the Jets on Oct. 28 that forced him to IR for half of the season. He returned for the regular-season finale and playoff game against the Eagles.
Long, 30, has been a team-first player, so it’s not surprising he agreed to a restructuring that keeps him with the Bears. While the team could have created additional space by releasing him, that would have also created a hole in the starting lineup with no clear replacement on the roster.
On Tuesday morning, Long tweeted, “Bear for Life” with a folded-hands emoji.
This is the first time in three years Long hasn’t entered an offseason recovering from surgery, meaning he will be able to focus on strengthening his body for 2019. Now, he knows he will be doing that at Halas Hall.
bmbiggs@chicagotribune.comTwitter @BradBiggs
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