This Caleb Williams contract update will shock Chicago Bears fans

The Caleb Williams contract saga isn’t quite over just yet. After it was reported yesterday by Adam Schefter that Williams had signed his four-year, $39 million rookie contract, one NFL analyst has just provided an update that has temporarily hit the brakes on that news.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio told Dan Bernstein and Leila Rahimi of 670 The Score that Williams hasn’t actually signed his rookie contract as of today, though an agreement is in place. Florio stated this morning that the two sides are haggling over “contract language.”

Apparently, Williams’ side wants a guarantee from the Chicago Bears that the team won’t use the franchise tag on him after his rookie contract expires. For those unaware, the franchise tag is a designation applied to a player once his contract expires that keeps that player from becoming an unrestricted free agent. The exclusive type of franchise tag guarantees that the player is paid the average salary of the top-five salaries at his position for that season, or 120% of their previous season’s salary, whichever is greater.

The latest on Caleb Williams' contract.

This news comes after a somewhat odd situation regarding Williams and his rookie contract. Even though Williams has stated that he’s not the one handling contract talks with the Bears, he does not currently have an NFLPA-certified agent, which has complicated and delayed the process. Williams spoke on his contract talks over the weekend.

The Chicago Bears have told the league that they haven’t spoken to any third parties regarding Williams’ contract. This creates a discrepancy between what both sides have stated, and an even more confusing situation as training camp quickly approaches.

For what it's worth, in his coverage of the story, Florio did admit that the deal is expected to be sign with no alterations from the standard structure for first-round rookies.