Getty Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears looks on during Chicago Bears Rookie Minicamp at Halas Hall on May 11, 2024 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears now have No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams signed to his rookie contract, but their new starting quarterback and his team sought an unprecedented change to his deal during the negotiation process.
Shortly before the Bears announced Williams’ signing, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio told 670 The Score that Williams’ camp had asked the Bears “to agree to not use the franchise tag on him” during contract negotiations and that Chicago declined to do so.
“One thing I’m told is there was an effort made to get the Bears to agree not to use the franchise tag on Caleb Williams after he would finish the fifth year of his contract, assuming they would pick up the option,” Florio said. “But that did not go anywhere.”
Former Bears scout Greg Gabriel also reported the same: that Williams had asked for no franchise tag at the end of his rookie contract but was denied by the Bears.
Ultimately, Williams signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $39 million contract that included a $25 million signing bonus and a traditional fifth-year option for the Bears. Gabriel also set the record straight that the contract language — not Williams’ request to ditch the franchise tag — caused the delay in him signing his rookie deal.
“According to top sources, the talk that the hang up in [Williams’ contract] was wanting no franchise tag at [the] end of [his] contract is greatly over-exaggerated,” Gabriel wrote on X. “It was asked for and denied. The holdup was strictly some language in the contract, which is typical.”
Bears GM Ryan Poles Says Caleb Williams Did Not Ask for ‘Anything Shocking’ in Contract Negotiations
The reports about Williams wanting to ditch the franchise tag are noteworthy in the sense that — if the Bears had agreed — it would have been a monumental change for rookie contracts in the NFL. No rookie has ever signed a deal that excluded the possible usage of a franchise tag, and Williams doing so would have set a new precedent.
Williams’ camp also made a few more attempts at changing the traditional rookie deal, according to Florio. First, they attempted to persuade the Bears to pay Williams as an LLC, which would have allowed Williams to avoid paying taxes on his four-year contract since, under Illinois law, LLCs have no income tax filing requirements.
Alternatively, Williams’ camp also sought to earn a forgivable loan for Williams, which would have made Williams’ NFL contract earnings tax-free until the loan was forgiven. Florio said the Bears went to the NFL with the proposals, but the league rejected both.
When asked about Williams’ various requests with his rookie contract, Bears general manager Ryan Poles declined to provide specifics about what the rookie’s team sought. He did, however, say that Williams and his camp did not ask for “anything shocking.”
“I’m not going to get into the negotiation, what’s asked, what’s not asked,” Poles told reporters on July 19. “Just for general knowledge, it is very common for different things to be asked for in the very beginnings of negotiations. It wasn’t anything shocking in terms of what was being asked for or anything like that. But at the end of the day, I’m glad it worked out and [it is] pretty standard [contract].”
Rome Odunze Also Signed Rookie Contract With Bears, Officially Wrapping up Chicago’s 2024 Class
Lost in the buzz about Williams’ contract, Rome Odunze — the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft — also signed his four-year rookie contract with the Bears on July 16.
Odunze signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $22.7 million contract with a fifth-year option, a deal that appears standard and reflects the rising of the NFL salary cap. He will make roughly $1.2 million more than Atlanta’s Drake London, who is a comparable case as the 2022 No. 8 overall pick. He signed a $21.5 million deal with the Falcons.
With Odunze and Williams under contract, the Bears now have all five members of their rookie draft class under contract heading into the start of 2024 training camp. Here are the contract details for the Bears’ non-first-round picks in 2024:
Kiran Amegadjie, OT (No. 75 pick): Four years, $5.91 million (about $1.12 million fully guaranteed)
Tory Taylor, P (No. 122 pick): Four years, $4.76 million ($747,900 fully guaranteed)
Austin Booker, DE (No. 144 pick): Four years, $4.37 million ($349,136 fully guaranteed)