The Bears have signed five of their 2025 draft picks, including first-round tight end Colston Loveland, according to a team announcement.
Loveland, the No. 10 pick, will receive $26.64MM over four years with a $16.01MM signing bonus, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Like all contracts for first-round selections, his deal is fully guaranteed with a fifth-year option for the 2029 season.
The Bears have veteran tight end Cole Kmet under contract through 2027, but they thought highly enough of Loveland to draft him with a top-10 pick. That suggests that new head coach Ben Johnson plans to use plenty of two tight-end sets in 2025, which could lean into Loveland’s primary skillset. Kmet could play as an inline tight end with Loveland flexing out to the slot, which will highlight his receiving strengths and help compensate for his weaknesses as a blocker.
In the long term, though, Loveland profiles as a starting three-down tight end, especially since Kmet has no guaranteed money on his deal past 2025. He could become a trade or cut candidate after this season if Loveland lives up to his draft billing with a strong rookie year.
The Bears also signed all four of their Day 3 picks: fourth-rounder Ruben Hyppolite II (No. 132), fifth-rounder Zah Frazier (No. 148), sixth-rounder Luke Newman (No. 195), and seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai (No. 233).
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I suppose a fully guaranteed contract prevents the Bears from jerking around their first round selection the way they did with Roquan Smith. I’ve never understood how creating animosity that way is going to benefit a team.
Roquan Smith wasn’t very smart. He also supposedly represented himself and he obviously was in over his head Lemon. The Bears offered him something close to what he got in Baltimore. We’ll see I guess. But we got Edmunds instead. He’s a little cheaper without the baggage. Hopefully Edmunds will step up into what they thought he could be with a real DC to play for who attacks and doesn’t bend don’t break. I wish it was August. If I remember right the Bears offered a little less money but more guaranteed money, But my memory isn’t what it used to be.
Roquan was a pain to sign his rookie contract. Then he wanted top money for an off the ball LB on his 2md contract. Cant argue with him, he deserved it. Bears D really suffered without him when he left.
I was referring to how the Bears tried to chisel some chump change from Roquan even before he signed his rookie deal. They wanted the offset language changed so they wouldn’t have to pay a guarantee against injury. This is not how the front office should be welcoming a first round selection to the organization and I’m sure free agents saw this and thought “No way do I want to go to Chicago and fight for every nickel in my contract”.
For the depression era McCaskey family, $20 is $20 lol
The Bears never lost out on any Free Agents regarding how they handled Smith
We have no way of knowing that. The Bears certainly wouldn’t advertise the fact would they? It’s just not a smart approach for any organization to take and how is a HC suppose to build up team morale when the front office is undermining the effort?