Bear Digest

Did Caleb Williams Just Set Up Negotiation Rematch with the Bears?

Analysis: The Bears and Caleb Williams sought to put the whole rookie contract signing in the past but the rookie QB seemed to suggest he learned something for the next time, if there is one.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams takes the field Saturday for his first training camp practice happy the contract stuff is over for now.
Caleb Williams takes the field Saturday for his first training camp practice happy the contract stuff is over for now. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears and Caleb Williams sought to put the entire contract negotiation delay into their past as they plunged headlong Friday toward Saturday's  start of practices.

Or did they?

The Bears did, anyway. This much was certain, after Williams signed his rookie contract for all the standard figures required for the first pick overall in the collective bargaining agreement and according to the salary cap. In this case, it was $39.5 million with a $25.5 million bonus and nothing unusual tagged onto it.

"I'm not going to get into the negotiation and what's asked/what's not asked," GM Ryan Poles said.

There were those exotic demands being rumored or reported, things like Williams, gasp, actually trying to maximize his payout through various means. Some said he was trying to challenge the CBA much the way he overturned the status quo by refusing to take a physical at the combine.

There was also the reported demand a franchise tag be ruled out in future negotiations, common for veterans but definitely not done for rookies.

"Just for general knowledge, it's very common for different things to be asked for in the very beginnings of negotiations," Poles said. "So 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 pretty kind of standard."

Standard yes, in the cash and way it's to be dispensed.

Williams gets the signing bonus of $25.537 million within 15 days according to PFT. His base salary for this season is the $960,000 the CBA dictates.

One other thing PFT reported was the Bears are entitled to a dollar-for-dollar offset to money Williams earns elsewhere if he is released. This is common, as well.

There are other common things in the deal, like losing bonus money for injuries incurred by hang gliding and all sorts of other things short of being shot out of a cannon.

"It was positive," Poles said. "I think the takeaway that I learned when I first got here with the first situation was it just takes a little bit of time and patience. But for this situation, it was positive."

The first situation, of course, was Roquan Smith. That one didn't end so well for the Bears. It ended better for Baltimore.

This time it's all smiles, but maybe not entirely.

Williams wore a smile and said many of the same things as Poles even though he wasn't breaking any negotiating ground with labor laws written in stone. He's just a rookie, first pick overall or not.

"Not getting into that and all the details of that," Williams said. "The ink is dried already and we're past that point."

Not having been through anything like this before can mean plenty of angst for a 22-year-old in his first NFL season.

"I know I appreciate everybody that was going through it all with myself," Williams said. "So whether it's us being here until 12 on Sunday and Monday, 12 at night, working through it, and trying to figure out the whole process and how it goes, I definitely learned a lot throughout this whole process for the next upcoming ones and things like that. Really excited. Can't wait to get it going. Really appreciative of everybody."

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If it was all so friendly, why was everyone there at midnight?

And what about that reference to "next upcoming ones and things like that?"

It almost sounded like a veiled threat about the negotiation the Bears will need to have with him after three more seasons.

Was that a "You won this one, but wait until the rematch."

Considering another such negotiation would mean they want to keep Williams and not deal him away for a conditional sixth-round draft pick like Justin Fields, or let him walk completely like Mitchell Trubisky, Poles should look forward to it without dread.

A team with such an abysmal record of quarterback play, with no 4,000-yard seasons, no 30-touchdown seasons, and whose top all-time quarterback wore a helmet with no facemask, should never complain about QB success.

If there is a next time, they should listen to Williams' demands, smile, give him what he wants and sign the contract instead of going through midnight sessions two straight days.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.