Current:Home > FinanceBears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze -ProsperityStream Academy
Bears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:47:34
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! (2)
Related
- House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
- In Israel, Blinken says Hamas must accept cease-fire deal, offers cautious optimism to hostage families
- TikToker Maddy Baloy Dead at 26 After Battle With Terminal Cancer
- Minnesota sports betting bill runs afoul of partisan rancor over state senator’s burglary arrest
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Britney Spears reaches divorce settlement with estranged husband Sam Asghari
- Travis Kelce says he told post office to stop delivering mail to his house
- Nurse accused of beating, breaking the leg of blind, non-verbal child in California home
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Tesla 'full self-driving' in my Model Y: Lessons from the highway
Ranking
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Man arrested in fatal shooting of Chicago police officer who was heading home from work
- Pregnant Francesca Farago Shares Baby Names She Loves—And Its Unlike Anything You've Heard
- Morgan Wallen waives Nashville court appearance amid 3-night concert
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Ozzy Osbourne says he's receiving stem cell treatments amid health struggles
- Ground beef tested negative for bird flu, USDA says
- New Mexico mother accused of allowing her 5-year-old son to slowly starve to death
Recommendation
Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott won't face charges for alleged sexual assault in 2017
Missouri Senate filibuster ends with vote on multibillion-dollar Medicaid program
Yellen says threats to democracy risk US economic growth, an indirect jab at Trump
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Matthew and Camila McConaughey go pantsless again for Pantalones tequila promotion
Biden administration says 100,000 new migrants are expected to enroll in ‘Obamacare’ next year
Julia Fox gets real on 'OMG Fashun,' vaping, staying single post-Ye and loving her son