In the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs extending Patrick Mahomes for a few more years and making him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL ($63.093 million per year), there has been plenty of discussion about the next wave of signal callers to get paid.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, entering his third season and extension-eligible afterward, is, of course, among them. While it won't be cheap if things go according to everyone's plans, the Bears surely welcome the idea of having a young franchise quarterback who is worthy of such a payday.
However, when those contract dominoes start to fall, each quarterback gets a little more than the previous one, and we've now gone above $60 million per year at the top of the quarterback market. While Mahomes is in a class of his own in a lot of ways, some quarterbacks may have a case to top his annual average when it comes time to get their deals done.
Including Williams, of course, assuming he continues on his upward trajectory this season.
Analyst sets a bar (and timeframe?) for Caleb Williams' contract extension
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has taken a look at nine quarterbacks who are next in line to get paid after Mahomes' new deal. Williams landed right in the middle of the list.
"The first overall pick in the 2024 draft becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. And Williams has been very focused on the business realities of the NFL, from even before he was drafted."
"When the time comes for Williams to get a new deal, the Mahomes number will drive the discussion. Especially if Williams continues to be on a trajectory that could put him among the top four or five quarterbacks in football."
How Mahomes' new annual average will hold up as other quarterbacks get new contracts is unclear. But Florio added a tentacle related to Williams that runs counter to the timeline we've seen for quarterbacks when they become eligible for a second contract.
"We’ve already heard talk of Williams having expectations that would be more than eye-popping. And we also expect that Williams will make it known that he wants his contract not after the 2026 postseason ends, but promptly upon the opening of the window for a new deal after the Bears face the Vikings in Week 18."
"Why carry the injury risk into the 2026 postseason? No quarterback on his rookie deal has tried to do that, even though the CBA wrinkle has been hiding in plain sight since 2011."
The precise timing of giving Williams a second contract is probably going to be fairly trivial from the Bears' end of things. Technically, it can be done right after the coming regular season ends, even if no quarterback on his rookie deal has pushed for that since the rookie wage scale was re-done in the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
If Williams' camp pushes to have a deal finalized between Week 18 and the start of the playoffs, assuming the Bears make the postseason, it shouldn't be a huge issue. But it would be an interesting layer added to the week leading into a playoff game.
Read more: Bears have naturally put extra pressure on one particular player in 2026
Would the Bears go to, say, $65 million per year in a long-term deal for Williams? If he performs as expected this season, they'll likely oblige. And with that in mind, the urgency to maximize what now looks to be a two-season window where their quarterback is paid below market value is hard to ignore.
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