Current:Home > ScamsBears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze -TradeWisdom
Bears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze
View
Date:2025-04-13 06:32:09
Tuesday was the first day of training camp for the Chicago Bears' rookies – two of them becoming very rich men just in the nick of time.
Quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze became among the league's final first-round draft picks of 2024 to reach terms on their initial NFL contracts. This year's No. 1 overall pick out of USC, Williams, per reports, agreed a four-year pact worth a fully guaranteed $39.5 million ($25.5 million of it earmarked as a signing bonus) by slotting at the the top of the board. Widely projected as a generational prospect, he joins a roster much stronger than most top selections enjoy and could immediately restore Chicago to contending status.
Odunze, a University of Washington product chosen ninth overall, is expected to be one of Williams' top targets well into the future – though he may have to take a backseat to the likes of veteran wideouts DJ Moore and Keenan Allen and established tight end Cole Kmet in 2024. Odunze is guaranteed $22.7 million over the next four seasons.
As first-rounders, Williams and Odunze could be retained on balloon payment fifth-year options in 2028 assuming they've fulfilled expectations to that point but haven't yet signed extensions (both will be eligible for one in 2027).
NFL OFFSEASON GRADES: Bears break curve with only A+
All things Bears: Latest Chicago Bears news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Coming off a 7-10 season, Chicago is looking for its first playoff campaign since 2020 and first postseason win since the 2010 season but will have to successfully navigate a highly competitive NFC North to meet those objectives.
Bears veterans are set to report to camp Friday. Chicago is among the league's first teams to show up for work this summer since it will kick off the preseason Aug. 1 against the Houston Texans in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
***Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- How war changed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- Will Ravens TE Mark Andrews play in Sunday's AFC title game vs. Chiefs?
- Cristiano Ronaldo's calf injury could derail match against Lionel Messi, Inter Miami
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Turkey’s parliament agrees to hold a long-delayed vote on Sweden’s NATO membership
- Jury selection begins for Oxford school shooter's mother in unprecedented trial
- Sofía Vergara reveals why she and Joe Manganiello divorced
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- America is hitting peak 65 in 2024 as record number of boomers reach retirement age. Here's what to know.
Ranking
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Sri Lankan lawmakers debate controversial internet safety bill amid protests by rights groups
- See maps of the largest-ever deep-sea coral reef that was discovered in an area once thought mostly uninhabited
- TCU women's basketball adds four players, returns to court after injuries led to forfeits
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Martin Luther King Jr.’s Son Dexter Scott King Dead at 62 After Cancer Battle
- The 2024 Oscar Nominations Are Finally Here
- Most United Methodist Church disaffiliations are in the South: Final report outlines latest in ongoing split.
Recommendation
Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
Dakota Johnson clarifies '14 hours' of sleep comments during 'Tonight Show' appearance
Memphis utility lifts boil water advisory after 5 days
Evers to focus on workforce challenges in sixth State of the State address
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Ed O'Neill says feud with 'Married… With Children' co-star Amanda Bearse was over a TV Guide cover
US strikes three facilities in Iraq following attacks on American forces by Iran-backed militias
China landslide leaves at least 8 people dead, almost 50 missing in Yunnan province