How Caleb Williams’ contract stacks up against Bryce Young, former No. 1 picks originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Bears signed Caleb Williams to his rookie deal that stretches four years and tops out at $39 million, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock.
Williams’ deal also includes a $25 million signing bonus and a fifth-year option. Williams’ Year 1 cap hit from his contract is $7.1 million — the 10th largest cap hit for the Bears’ 2024 season.
How does Williams’ contract stack up against Bryce Young and the former No. 1 overall picks?
In comparison, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young — the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft — has a four-year contract worth $37.9 million, just $1.1 million shy of Williams’ contract.
Here are the contract values of No. 1 picks of the last 10 NFL Drafts, according to Spotrac.
Rookie contracts are decided on the rookie wage scale; it’s a salary cap within a salary cap to measure out prepaid contracts for rookie NFL players. The contract of the rookie depends widely on the success of the NFL and its overall cap flexibility.
For example, one reason for Williams’ contract increase is the NFL’s salary cap increase. The NFL salary cap increased a record 13.6% this season, moving from $224.8 million to $255.4 million, just over a $30 million increase. That allowed for contract bonuses to increase; signing bonuses are also up $3.79%, according to CBS Sports, which is the largest increase since 2019.
The other factor in rookie contracts is dependent on where the player is drafted. Because Williams — and the rest of the chart — was the No. 1 pick in his respective draft, he will own the highest-paid contract amongst rookies in the 2024 NFL Draft class.
But largely, as you can see from the table, the contract value is dependent on the NFL’s success. That’s just a part of how Williams was able to earn $14.1 million more than Winston in 2015, and a near $10 million more bonus.
