Training camp has arrived.The Chicago Bears will hit the practice field this week. Rookies report Tuesday to Halas Hall in Lake Forest, and veteran players report Friday.
The first practice will be Saturday. General manager Ryan Poles is expected to address members of the media Friday about the upcoming season.
All eyes will be on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Poles was hard at work bolstering the roster over the offseason, including scouting Williams. Head coach Matt Eberflus will be tasked with figuring out how to make the 2024 Bears roster jell.
Important dates to know
The first practice open to the public will be July 26. In total, nine practices will be open to fans. Halas Hall has the capacity to host about 1,000 fans per day.
The Bears will not be holding their annual family fest practice at Soldier Field this year. Typically, the team uses that as a dress rehearsal ahead of its first preseason game. With the Bears participating in the Hall of Fame Game, the preseason calendar is starting early. The Aug. 1 Hall of Fame Game likely will serve as the Bears’ dress rehearsal. Participating teams rarely play their starters.
Here are the dates of the Bears’ four preseason games:
- 1: Bears vs. Houston Texans (Hall of Fame game) in Canton, Ohio
- 10: Bears at Buffalo Bills
- 17: Bears vs. Cincinnati Bengals
- 22: Bears at Kansas City Chiefs
The Bears will host the Bengals for one day of joint practices Aug. 15 at Halas Hall. Joe Burrow and the Bengals will square off against the Bears’ defense during a practice that is open to the public.
In the past, teams had several deadlines throughout August when they had to trim down their rosters. Beginning last year, the NFL eliminated the tiered cutdowns and allowed teams to keep 90 players on the roster until the final cutdown day.
This year, teams must cut their rosters from 90 players to 53 players by 3 p.m. Aug. 27. Teams then have until 11 a.m. Aug. 28 to place waiver claims on players cut from other teams.
Why haven’t Williams, Odunze signed rookie contracts?
Williams and No. 9 overall pick Rome Odunze have not signed their rookie contracts yet. As of Monday morning, five of the 32 first-round picks remain unsigned: Williams, Odunze, Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota’s Dallas Turner and Cincinnati’s Amarius Mims.
Rookie players can participate in OTAs and minicamp before signing their rookie contracts, but not training camp.
Although it’s unclear what is keeping Williams and Odunze from signing their contracts, it’s not the total amount of money in the deal. Drafted rookies are slotted into specific salaries based on where they were selected in the draft, per the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Total salary figures are set, and there’s not much a rookie can do about it.
There are, however, a few things rookies can negotiate. The biggest one is when they will be paid their signing bonus. They also could negotiate some of the language that could void guaranteed money in their contracts (as Roquan Smith did in 2018), and they can haggle over offset language should the team release them before the contract expires.
Another date for Bears fans to keep in mind is Aug. 6. If a drafted rookie player has not signed his rookie contract by Aug. 6, the team that drafted him may not trade the player in 2024. In theory, if Williams really didn’t want to play for the Bears (which there’s no reason to believe is the case), he could sit out the entire 2024 season and re-enter the draft in 2025. In the interim, the Bears could not trade him unless he signs a contract.
Rest easy, Bears fans. Since the rookie wage scale was implemented in 2011, no rookie has ever held out for that long. It’s far more likely Williams and Odunze sign before the first practice Saturday, or sometime in the days after camp begins.
When does the regular season begin?
The NFL’s season kickoff game will be Sept. 5 between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. There also will be a Friday night game Sept. 6 between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.
The Bears will kick off the regular season Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field. That game will begin at noon as part of the NFL’s first Sunday slate of action.
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