Let the Caleb Williams era begin.
The Chicago Bears and their first-year quarterback agreed to a four-year, $39.5 million contract that is fully guaranteed, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes, the deal includes a $25.5 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option.
Chicago selected the USC product with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.
Having the most important position on the roster playing on a rookie-scale contract—even one as significant as Williams’—allows the Bears to build up other positions around him, and that is exactly what they did this offseason.
They traded for wide receiver Keenan Allen, signed running back D’Andre Swift, signed tight end Gerald Everett and drafted Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze to bolster an offense that already had wide receiver DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet.
It’s not too often the No. 1 overall pick of the draft gets to walk into a tailor-made situation with Moore, Allen, Kmet and Odunze as weapons in the aerial attack, but that is the reality for Williams.
The Bears are the only team in the NFL to never have a quarterback throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season, but Williams is in excellent position to change that as soon as his rookie campaign.
After all, he threw for 4,537 yards in just 14 games as the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner at USC and now has one of the best collections of offensive weapons around him in the professional ranks.
Williams will be playing under playoff expectations during his first season in the league. The Bears went 7-10 overall and 5-3 in their final eight games of the 2023 campaign and only had that No. 1 pick because of a trade with the Carolina Panthers. Throw in all the new weapons, and anything less than a postseason appearance would be a disappointment.
Reaching the playoffs will require Williams to live up to expectations, though, even as a rookie.
If he does, there will likely be a larger contract waiting for him from Chicago once this rookie-scale one expires.