Chicago Bears rookie Caleb Williams is signing a deal with the Bears, after much speculation about what would be in his contract. Williams agreed to a $39 million deal with Chicago, per ESPN.
The Williams deal is a four-year, fully-guaranteed contract worth $39 million, according to the outlet. It includes a $25.5 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option, per ESPN sources.
Williams was the no. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He played his college football career with USC and Oklahoma. He is one of several quarterbacks taken in the first round of this year's draft, and one that is also likely to start right away.
Caleb Williams is under pressure to win
There's a lot of hope that Williams will be a winner in Chicago. The Bears agreed to let Justin Fields go this offseason to bring in a new quarterback. Fields was hurt a good portion of the 2023 season, and the Bears couldn't find a way to win without him. Chicago finished the campaign with a 7-10 record. Fields is now a Pittsburgh Steeler.
Williams showed in college that he can sling the ball around. The young gunslinger worked well in the Lincoln Riley offense, leading both Oklahoma football and then USC. In 2023 with the Trojans, Williams threw for 3,633 yards and 30 touchdowns, with just five interceptions. In 2022, the quarterback threw for a career-high in passing yards. He posted 4,537 total yards passing for one of the best offenses in all of college football.
Contract drama for Caleb Williams
The quarterback and the Windy City franchise were involved in extensive talks over the last several weeks about compensation and a long-term contract. While speculation ran rampant that Williams was almost exclusively talking to the team with no representation involved, the quarterback seemed to squash that charge in recent comments to the press.
“My lawyers and attorney and everybody, the head of the Bears, everybody up there up top is handling that. That's not my position that I'm handling,” Williams said, per Reuters.
Bears fans hope the amount of money Chicago is doling out will be worth it. The franchise is starved for a Super Bowl championship. It's been nearly 40 years since Mike Ditka mentored the franchise to a title in the 1985 season. The Bears last appeared in the big game in 2006, when the team bowed to the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts.
Time will tell if Williams is the man to get the job done for Chicago. The Bears are one of the first NFL teams to start training camp, since the team plays the Houston Texans on August 1 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame contest.
The Bears got some more good news Tuesday, as rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze also agreed to a deal with the team. The wideout is making $22.7 million over four years, per ESPN.
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