The Chicago Bears were in a deadlock for the past several weeks, trying to secure their draft class to a new contract. Things were going smoothly. First round pick Colston Loveland signed pretty quickly. Everybody selected in the 4th round and later jumped on board as well. The problems surfaced with their three 2nd round picks: Luther Burden, Ozzy Trapilo, and Shemar Turner. They became entangled in a league-wide contract standoff after the Houston Texans fully guaranteed the deal for 34th overall pick Jayden Higgins. Suddenly, every player picked after him wanted the same.
Nobody budged for weeks. At last, there was a breakthrough when 49ers 2nd round pick Alfred Collins signed his deal with around 83% guaranteed. Every agent of players picked after him lost their leverage. Unsurprisingly, more and more have begun signing, including Trapilo and Turner. That leaves only one Bears rookie left. Burden was the 39th overall pick this year. That means he went before Collins, hence he is under no obligation to end the standoff.
Luther Burden faces an awkward situation.
He’s under pressure from other rookies and their agents around the league, urging him to maintain the holdout. If he can secure a fully guaranteed deal from the Bears, it means every player selected 39th overall moving forward will get the same. At the same time, he can’t afford a holdout into training camp. He already missed most of the spring practices because of injury setbacks. Head coach Ben Johnson warned he’s falling behind. He has no plans to play somebody who isn’t up to speed on the offense. In other words, Luther Burden could end up sitting most of this season if he carries this holdout into August. Not an enviable spot to be in. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon. Rookies report on July 19th.
