Bears rookies are set to report to Halas Hall for orientation Tuesday.
Their top two picks, though, still haven’t signed their contracts. Quarterback Caleb Williams, the first overall pick, and receiver Rome Odunze, the ninth selection, are among the few NFL rookies yet to ink their deals. They are the two highest selections among the five unsigned first-rounders left. All were chosen with the top 18 picks in the draft, including Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement makes rookie contracts fairly standardized, with salaries set in advance. Williams is expected to make $39.4 million over four seasons, while Odunze is expected to earn $22.7 million. Both first-round picks have a fifth-year team option that the Bears must decide on after three seasons of play.
What’s left to negotiate typically revolves around language surrounding bonuses, guarantees and offsets.
Williams does not have an NFLPA-certified agent and has to negotiate for himself, per league rules. He’s using legal advisors; he referenced them Saturday when distancing himself from the contract negotiations.
“My lawyer and attorney and everybody, the head of the Bears, everybody up there at top is handling that,” he said after handing out Caleb Cares Hero awards on the South Side. “That’s not my position that I’m handling.”
Williams has taken a similar stance throughout negotiations; in June, he said that allowing lawyers to try to work on his contract allows to “be free-minded on the field.”
Odunze has an agent.
The Bears are one of eight NFL teams who have rookies reporting Tuesday. Four others — including the Texans, their Aug. 1 opponent in the Hall of Fame Game — do so Wednesday.
The Texans’ veterans report Wednesday, the earliest of any NFL team. Bears veterans report Friday, with the first practice Saturday.