Could Bears make Willie Young part of long-term plans?

With one year left on his contract and his team having drafted an outside linebacker in the first round, Willie Young’s days with the Bears appeared numbered.

Not so fast. Per Bleacher Report, the Bears and Young are talking about a possible extension as he approaches the final year of his deal.

Young recorded 6 ½ sacks last season, his first at outside linebacker, after the Bears switched to a 3-4 defense. He recovered from a torn Achilles’ tendon suffered the second-to-last week of 2014.

Young, 30, was thought to be available at last season’s trade deadline.

If all remain with the Bears, they’ll have last year’s big free agent signing, Pernell McPhee, No. 9 overall pick Leonard Floyd, veteran Lamarr Houston and Young serving as edge rushers in 2016.

McPhee had offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

“Just when he is really ready, when he’s healthy and ready to go, I know he’ll be out there,” outside linebackers coach Clint Hurtt said last week.

Hurtt said that, two weeks before the draft, he had predicted to Young and Houston the Bears could select Floyd

“Listen, this is about competition and making the team better,” he said. “And the thing is, they had a great attitude about it. They didn’t feel like we were saying they weren’t capable. It was, ‘What do we have to do to make our football team better?’ And we needed to get more athletic in the front seven.

“The same comment I make about, ‘We have to have guys who can track down the quarterbacks and create some versatility,’ they see the same things. They’re not blind to it. They’re looking at the same tape that the coaches are and everybody else.

“So put your pride to the side — which, they never let it get that way. They were open to it. They’ve embraced Leonard with open arms since he’s been here, and it’s been great.”