Bear Digest

Bears finish signing process with Chris Williams and three others

A surprise contributor last year, the Bears retained Chris Williams as a restricted free agent and Monday finished the signing proess with him and three exclusive rights free agents.
Gene Chamberlain|
Chris Williams and the Bears arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a game with the Jaguars last year.
Chris Williams and the Bears arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a game with the Jaguars last year. | Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

As the Bears began work in the weight room with conditioning, they also finished some dangling paper work.

Four restricted players who had been tendered already officially signed the offers and were able then to take part in workouts.

Defensive tackle Chris Williams had been tendered at a $3.263 million level as a restricted free agent and signed.

Williams proved to be a surprise last year after being acquired from Cleveland with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick. He made 23 tackles, three sacks, seven quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. He'd never made a sack before last season and had six total tackles for 13 games played for the Colts in 2021 and 2022.

The other players retained were all exclusive rights free agents and the Bears gave them the minimum tender offer of $1.03 million each. Those deals were finalized for defensive tackle Jonathan Ford, guard Bill Murray and cornerback Ameer Speed.

Ford, a seventh-round pick by the Packers in 2022, was acquired last year by the Bears when they signed him away from Green Bay's practice squad. The 6-foot-5, 338-pounder got into his first four NFL games and made nine tackles, including one for loss.

Murray was the surprisingly effective Bears blocker who came up from the practice squad and then quickly was done for the year with a pectoral muscle tear.

Speed played in two Bears games last year after being signed to their practice squad in September. He had been with the Colts and Patriots in 2023.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.