Bears facing holdout trouble with 2025 second-round picks

The Chicago Bears were one of the fortunate teams in the 2025 NFL Draft to have multiple picks in the first two rounds. General manager Ryan Poles had four, to be exact, with three coming in Round 2.

The Bears snagged wide receiver Luther Burden, offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, and defensive lineman Shemar Turner in the second round, all of whom are expected to play a huge role in 2025.

Trapilo has a real chance to become Chicago’s starting left tackle as a rookie, and Burden should see immediate targets in Ben Johnson’s passing game. Turner will jump into a talented rotation at defensive tackle and will benefit from the tutelage provided by veteran stud Grady Jarrett.

But there’s one small problem. None of the Bears’ three second-round picks have signed their contracts. And with less than one month until training camp begins, time is running out to get those deals done.

Before you go blaming Poles and the Bears’ front office, this isn’t a Chicago Bears thing. It’s an NFL thing. Only two second-round picks have signed their contracts so far in what’s become a sudden emergency for the league to resolve.

It seems the sticking point (as always) is about guaranteed money.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“The problem is that, for the first time ever, a second-round pick has gotten a fully-guaranteed contract,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote. “It started with Texans receiver Jayden Higgins, the second pick in round two. That sparked a fully-guaranteed contract for Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the first pick in the second round.

‘For the next 30 picks, nothing has happened. Obviously, the players and their agents want as many of the deals as possible to be fully guaranteed. The teams want to draw the line as close to the third pick in round two (Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori) as possible.”

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This is a significant problem for a team like the Bears, which has three second-round players. Poles can’t put Chicago behind the eight ball with three guaranteed contracts on the books. That would be a disaster, especially if all three fail to become meaningful contributors at any point during their first two or three seasons.

“Eventually, someone will have to blink,” Florio continued. “It’ll probably start later in the round, with players who wouldn’t expect to get a full guarantee anyway. And then it could work its way up the ladder.”

That tends to be how these things work anyway. The first domino has to fall, but no agent wants to be that guy. They don’t want their agency to be known as the one that couldn’t stand up for their player. It’s why this problem is very, very real for the Chicago Bears. Three critically important rookies are at risk of missing valuable time if common ground can’t be reached.

Cooler heads usually prevail when deadlines approach. In this case, that deadline is training camp. I expect a flurry of deals to be finalized in the week leading up to the first practice, which is scheduled for July 25.

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