Bears might be faced with a familiar headache involving a member of the rookie class — but the team did dodge one bullet
The NFL has seen a spike in fully-guaranteed deals involving second-round draft picks over the last few years and it could be a problem the Chicago Bears are faced with once again when it comes to Logan Jones’ contract negotiations.
Over the last few offseasons, NFL teams have dealt with a frustrating trend that’s only going to continue to get worse involving rookie contracts for second-round picks.
Before, players selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft would receive fully guaranteed deals. That’s started to change recently with top second-round draft picks fighting for fully guaranteed deals of their own, or at the very least a higher guaranteed percentage.
Last offseason, negotiations with second-round picks lasted well into training camp with eight second-round players eventually securing fully guaranteed deals. That included Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III, who became the first 39th overall pick to secure a fully guaranteed deal.
As for Chicago’s two other second-round draft picks (Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner), deals came together but negotiations lasted into mid-July. That’s a headache Chicago might have to deal with again this offseason.
Chicago Bears could be faced with another tough situation regarding Logan Jones’ rookie contract
In the second-round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Bears selected Iowa center Logan Jones with the 57th overall pick. Given his draft pick, the Bears likely won’t have to deal with giving Jones a fully guaranteed deal. However, Jones will be pushing for a higher percentage of guaranteed money compared to the 57th overall pick in 2025.
Trapilo, for example, was the 56th overall pick in last year’s draft and his rookie contract included fully guaranteed money for first two years and the third year was 72 percent guaranteed. The 57th overall pick from the 2025 NFL Draft was Detroit Lions’ guard Tate Ratledge, who’s deal guaranteed 66 percent of his salary in the third year of the deal.
Jones will likely be looking to get as close to 70 percent as possible guaranteed for the third year of his rookie contract with the first two years fully guaranteed. It’s likely he gets to that number considering how Chicago’s negotiations went with Trapilo.
The Bears did dodge one bullet, however, after trading out of the 60th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Chicago slide back into the third-round to draft tight end Sam Roush with the 69th overall pick. Hopefully contract battles don’t extend to third-round picks this year, but that’s coming eventually.