Current:Home > StocksBears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze -RiseUp Capital Academy
Bears finally come to terms with first-round picks, QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze
View
Date:2025-04-15 20:57:55
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! (983)
Related
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Katy Perry Reveals Orlando Bloom's Annoying Trait
- Water woes linger in New Orleans after wayward balloon causes power glitch, pressure drop
- Watch these fabulous feline stories on International Cat Day
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Older pilots with unmatchable experience are key to the US aerial firefighting fleet
- Homeowners race to refinance as mortgage rates retreat from 23-year highs
- After 'hell and back' journey, Tara Davis-Woodhall takes long jump gold at Paris Olympics
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- Doomed crew on Titan sub knew 'they were going to die,' lawsuit says
Ranking
- 'Most Whopper
- A win for the Harris-Walz ticket would also mean the country’s first Native American female governor
- France advances to play USA for men's basketball gold
- Simone Biles Details Bad Botox Experience That Stopped Her From Getting the Cosmetic Procedure
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Fire destroys landmark paper company factory in southwestern Ohio
- University of Georgia panel upholds sanctions for 6 students over Israel-Hamas war protest
- Cate Blanchett talks new movie 'Borderlands': 'It's not Citizen Kane!'
Recommendation
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
US men’s basketball team rallies to beat Serbia in Paris Olympics, will face France for gold medal
Simone Biles Details Bad Botox Experience That Stopped Her From Getting the Cosmetic Procedure
Why Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Is Doubling Down on Controversial Speech Comments
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
Christian Coleman, delayed by ban, finally gets shot at Olympic medal
Who is Nick Mead? Rower makes history as Team USA flag bearer at closing ceremony with Katie Ledecky
James Webb Telescope reveals mystery about the energy surrounding a black hole