Current:Home > reviewsBears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze -Quantum Capital Pro
Bears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze
View
Date:2025-04-16 08:59:17
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! (96)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- World Central Kitchen, Hearts with Hands providing food, water in Asheville
- How to get your share of Oracle's $115 million class-action settlement; deadline is coming
- Cincinnati Opera postpones Afrofuturist-themed `Lalovavi’ by a year to the summer of 2026
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- The stock market's as strong as it's ever been, but there's a catch
- Oregon DMV waited weeks to tell elections officials about voter registration error
- Steward Health Care files a lawsuit against a US Senate panel over contempt resolution
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Native Americans in Montana ask court for more in-person voting sites
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Paris Jackson Shares Sweet Reason Dad Michael Jackson Picked Elizabeth Taylor to Be Her Godmother
- Police in a cartel-dominated Mexican city are pulled off the streets after army takes their guns
- Britney Spears Shares She Burned Off Hair, Eyelashes and Eyebrows in Really Bad Fire Accident
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Sabrina Carpenter jokes at NYC concert about Eric Adams indictment
- Man sentenced to nearly 200 years after Indiana triple homicide led to serial killer rumors
- NBA players, coaches, GMs react to Dikembe Mutombo's death: 'He made us who we are.'
Recommendation
Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
Many small businesses teeter as costs stay high while sales drop
RHONY's Brynn Whitfield Addresses Costar Rebecca Minkoff's Scientology Past
Angelina Jolie drops FBI lawsuit over alleged Brad Pitt plane incident, reports say
Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
Former Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn, who left dentistry to win as a first-time candidate, dies at 97
Why Rihanna Says Being a Mom of 2 Boys Is an “Olympic Sport”
Colorado family sues after man dies from infection in jail in his 'blood and vomit'