Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears agree to a four-year, $39.48 million contract

Did anyone really doubt Caleb Williams would sign his rookie contract?

The Bears and their No. 1 overall draft pick agreed to terms on a four-year, $39.48 million fully-guaranteed contract on Tuesday. The deal includes a $25.5 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option. This news came around two hours after fellow rookie Rome Odunze signed his rookie contract.

Williams and Odunze signed their contracts on the same day rookies are scheduled to report to Halas Hall. With the two first-round draft picks signed, the Bears now have their entire 2024 draft pick class under contract.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement keeps the details and fine print for rookie contracts pretty straight forward, such as Williams’ base value. But there were also certain aspects like bonuses and guarantees that Williams’ attorneys and lawyers had to work through, and the two sides came to an agreement on Tuesday afternoon.

Just to give a baseline on rookie contracts, Williams’ deal was more than what Bryce Young got as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. Young’s fully-guaranteed rookie contract with the Panthers was a four-year, $37,955,071 deal that included a $24,603,688 signing bonus.

Williams got what he wanted and is now the 22nd highest average paid quarterback in the NFL.

With contracts now out of the way, the next step for the Bears will be to start practicing, which will start at Halas Hall on Saturday, July 20.

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