The Chicago Bears had been waiting for weeks to secure their last three picks of the 2025 draft class. One big hurdle remained. Almost none of the league’s 2nd rounders wanted to sign because Jayden Higgins, the Houston Texans’ 34th overall pick, got a fully guaranteed deal. Inevitably, others wanted the same. Teams were reluctant to budge, and thus a holdout began. After Alfred Collins, the 43rd pick, signed for less than fully guaranteed, it didn’t take long for Ozzy Trapilo and Shemar Turner to follow, since both were drafted after him. That left Luther Burden.
As the 39th overall pick, he still had a case for earning full guarantees as well. After another 24 hours of tense waiting as training camp nears, a deal was struck. For the first time in NFL history, a player picked that late in the draft got his contract fully guaranteed. While it’s great news for Burden personally, it also sets a historic precedent. Every player picked 39th overall moving forward now has the leverage needed to follow Burden’s lead, getting their own contracts guaranteed. You can’t downplay the significance in a sport that is so unpredictable with injuries.
Chicago Bears reached agreement today with second-round pick WR Luther Burden III on a fully-guaranteed, $10.965 million contract, marking the first time in NFL history that the 39th pick has secured a fully-guaranteed deal, per the @WINSportsGroup. pic.twitter.com/NuMzmRo0IL
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 18, 2025
The Chicago Bears likely didn’t want to stretch this out.
Burden had already missed most of the OTAs and minicamps due to a soft tissue injury. If the holdout went any longer, the receiver stood to miss critical training camp practices as well. Given the big plans head coach Ben Johnson likely has for him, it probably didn’t seem as if a couple of hundred thousand dollars were worth the headache. NFL owners are among the richest in American sports. This is not something they need to haggle over. They can afford it without even breaking a sweat. Credit to the McCaskeys for giving Ryan Poles the green light to get the deal done. It was important to avoid distractions with such a critical season approaching.