Bears proactively planning quarterback's future. Early contract extension discussions are underway, signaling commitment to their star signal-caller.
The Chicago Bears have a luxury that few NFL teams do.
The franchise is very fortunate to have a lot of its top players still under rookie contracts. Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Ozzy Trapilo and Kyle Monangai are still on their first contracts with the team.
The Bears recently got younger at receiver by getting D.J. Moore's contract off the books. He was traded to the Buffalo Bills for a second-round pick, freeing up $16.5 million in cap space.
It became apparent that Chicago was planning for the long term in free agency. The Bears didn't pursue any of the veteran edge rushers available, like Maxx Crosby or Trey Hendrickson.
General Manager Ryan Poles shared that the team is focused on preparing for what's ahead when asked about the team not pursuing an edge rusher in free agency.
One of the biggest extensions that the Bears will eventually have to give out is to Williams. Poles stated at the NFL Owners Meetings that the Bears are already in the beginning stages of preparing an extension for the quarterback, revealing that progress has already been made.
"We're making progress," Poles said. "That is exciting to even be thinking about planning for that. It's really a summer project. Matt Feinstein is digging into it now. We've had some preliminary conversations because we want to take some of these things into consideration as we build the team."
There's still plenty of time before the Bears have to think about an extension for Williams. He won't be an unrestricted free agent until 2029, per Spotrac.
Williams already took some big strides in 2025, becoming the franchise's new record-holder for single-season passing yards. He passed Erik Kramer's 1995 numbers (3,838), finishing with 3,942 in the 2025 regular season.
The quarterback almost became the Bears' leader in single-season passing touchdowns, needing to throw three more to pass Kramer (29).
This kind of extension is not going to be an if, but a when, regarding the Bears quarterback. The team still has multiple years before an extension is needed, but it's good to see Poles being proactive in preparing a second contract for the franchise quarterback.
Williams finished with 3,942 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions in the regular season. However, he still can improve in a few areas. Once he got to the playoffs, he was inconsistent.
He had 618 passing yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions in the postseason. With how unforgiving the NFL is, it's going to be a climb to reach the playoffs again, but Williams is the right quarterback for the job.
He'll no doubt be rewarded with an extension when the time comes.