Bear Digest

Waiting Game Is on for Signing of First Pick Caleb Williams

Analysis: It's a case of watch and wait for the top Bears rookie to get a contract signed and into camp this week after rookies were required to report on Tuesday at Halas Hall.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams during warmups at OTAs. The Bears won't have him at any rookie work this week until he signs a contract.
Caleb Williams during warmups at OTAs. The Bears won't have him at any rookie work this week until he signs a contract. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The stalemate between the Bears and their unsigned No. 1 overall draft pick went on into Tuesday as other rookies reported to Halas Hall.

The actual holdup isn’t known, in part because Caleb Williams Williams has no agent doing his negotiating. When word of such talks leaks out it’s often through the agent.

In a talk with the Mully & Haugh Show on AM-670 The Score, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on Tuesday suggested the holdup with this and talks for the other unsigned first-round unsigned players could be either: A problem with when money is paid out; what could cause teams to void guaranteed money; or how much the team might get back and when should Williams be cut and then sign with another team.

The truth is it could be any or all of those reasons, but if other contract negotiations are any indication it’s the payout aspect of the guaranteed money.

All first-round picks have all the money guaranteed on the first four years of their contract as a result of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement and the rookie wage scale. But this doesn't mean they get the money all at once.

Jonathan Harrison of Vikings On SI wrote timing of the cash payout is a suspected reason for J.J. McCarthy’s contract holdup. He cited a Twitter report by someone named “Pretty Ricky” for his belief.

The Vikings quarterback was the 10th pick overall.

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A Twitter report from someone named “Pretty Ricky” might seem a bit like getting inside information from Johnny the shoeshine boy in The Naked Gun’s predecessor, “Police Squad.”

However, let's not be hasty. Harrison wrote how this same source had reported an agreement in advance of Miami’s contract with Odell Beckham, the signing of Tyler Boyd by the Titans just before the former Bengals wide receiver decided to move on, as well as on new deals for Antoine Winfield and Justin Jefferson.

If the timing of cash payouts on guaranteed money is an issue with McCarthy, it’s possible the same is true with Williams or any of the other first-round unsigned players.

Regardess, the Bears and Williams need to get a deal done so actual football can occur.

“At some point you’ve just got to get them done though,” Florio told the Mully & Haugh Show. “It hurts the vibe. Everybody is feeling positive. Everybody is feeling good. The franchise is turning the corner and, you know, the people in the middle may be trying to take advantage of that and get a little bit more out of the Bears.”

The problem with the Williams situation is there is no one in the middle per se. Williams is representing himself, and the Bears have been through the sort of issues this kind of thing causes as recently as 2022, when they negotiated with Roquan Smith.

To say Williams is representing himself merely means he has someone else negotiating for him. He has called it his team in the past, and The Athletic had reported the team included an advisor in union-certified agent Tony Agnone.

It was never established Agnone is actually doing his negotiating, though. Sportico’s Eric Jackson wrote it’s actually Carl Williams heading up the negotiating team for his son.

For Williams not to be there today under contract isn't the worst thing in the world. Former NFL great Dwight Freeney summed it up well in an appearance on Up and Adams.

"It's not the end of the world," Freeney said.

The Bears do not start practicing until Saturday. Veterans report on Friday for camp.

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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.