On the day rookies arrived at Halas Hall for training camp, quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze, the Bears’ first and ninth overall choices, struck an agreement on their rookie contracts.
Williams signed a four-year contract for $39.4 million, including a $25.5 million signing bonus, on Wednesday. Odunze signed a four-year deal for $22.7 million, including a $13.3 million signing bonus, on Tuesday.
Both contracts are completely guaranteed, with a fifth-year option in 2028.
Chicago will begin training camp sessions on July 20th, after veterans’ reports this Friday. The Bears and Texans are the first teams to begin training camp ahead of their annual Hall of Fame game on August 1 in Canton, Ohio.
Williams and Odunze were among the last five first-round draft selections to sign contracts. Williams, who an NFLPA-certified agent does not represent, has expressed confidence that the personnel surrounding him will handle his negotiations as he prepares for his first preseason.
“I’m not handling that,” Williams told The Chicago Tribune during his first Caleb Cares Foundation event in Chicago last Saturday. “My attorneys and attorney, as well as the head of the Bears, are managing this. That is not the situation I am addressing.”
The Bears will appear in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” for the first time since the annual training camp miniseries premiered in the early 2000s.
Did Caleb Williams sign his contract with the Bears?
The Bears signed quarterback Caleb Williams on Wednesday to a four-year deal with a fifth-year option since he was drafted in the first round.
Are all Bears draft picks signed?
Williams and Odunze constituted half of the remaining first-round choices who were yet to sign. The only unsigned first-round selections are Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy and Minnesota pass rusher Dallas Turner.
What draft picks do the Bears currently have?
The Chicago Bears used most of their draft capital in the 2024 NFL Draft to select quarterback Caleb Williams as the number one overall pick. However, they still have four selections remaining:
Round 1: No. 1 (from CAR)- Caleb Williams, QB, USC.
Round 1: No. 9 (from Carolina Panthers) – They used this pick to draft wide receiver Rome Odunze.
Round 3: No. 75 Kiran Amegadjie, OT, Yale.
Round 4: No. 122 (from Philadelphia Eagles)
