Every time wide receiver Luther Burden catches a pass, he has one goal.
“My mindset is that every time I get the ball,” he said, “I’m trying to make the play-caller give me the ball some more.”
For the first time in his career, that might not happen. The centerpiece of Missouri’s offense — he was targeted on roughly one-third of the Tigers’ passes in 2023 and one-fifth in 2024 — is joining a unit that has other options.
In the last year, the Bears have drafted Rome Odunze ninth overall and given fellow wide receiver DJ Moore a four-year, $110 million contract extension. On Thursday, they picked Michigan tight end Colston Loveland 10th. Fellow tight end Cole Kmet has the eighth-highest salary-cap hit on the team this year. Newly signed slot receiver Olamide Zaccheaus had 45 receptions for the Commanders last year, and running back D’Andre Swift had 42 for the Bears.
There’s only one football for Caleb Williams to throw, and he has a half-dozen or so sets of hands expecting the ball. It’s up to the play-caller, Bears coach Ben Johnson, to figure it all out.
Johnson warned his players that this was coming. When they reported to Halas Hall this month, he told them they had to earn their playing time and that there wasn’t a set depth chart right away. He wanted them to compete.
“I think all we did this weekend, is we might’ve just turned up the notch a couple of dials for certain people in the building,” Johnson said Saturday night after the Bears finished their draft. “That’s a good thing. That’s a healthy thing. That’s where you bring out the best not only in your team, but in each individual.”
Having too many weapons beats the alternative. Of the nine wide receivers on general manager Ryan Poles’ first Bears team in 2022, five are already out of football. Two of the other four didn’t catch a ball last year, and only Darnell Mooney started a game in 2024.
“There’s one ball, and someone’s going to be hot one week, another person’s going to be hot the next, and we’ve got to support that person,” Poles said. “If that means you’re blocking, whatever that means, you gotta do your part to your highest level so that we can win football games.”
Poles said he’s confident Johnson can handle the target distribution. He was able to last season when he ran a star-studded Lions offense, but life is different when you’re the head coach. He’ll have to be deft in not only how he calls plays, but how he communicates with his pass catchers. He’s already preaching a mantra: No block, no rock.
“What I’m going to be curious to see is what guys look like when the ball’s not in their hands on offense,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of weapons. So how are you going to run your route when you might not be No. 1 in the progression? How are you going to block for your teammate when he has the ball? Because when you do those things right, then as a coaching staff, we’re going to want to get you the ball a little bit more. So it all ties together.”
Poles has one thing in his favor — no pending contract negotiations that would make his premium pass catchers clamor for the ball even more often. Moore is signed through 2029. Kmet is signed through 2027, though the Bears can cut him after this season and pay just $3.2 million in dead cap money. Odunze has four years left on his deal and Loveland five, provided the Bears pick up their options. Burden has four.
Poles has something else working for him — what the Bears had been doing wasn’t working. Anyone who spent last season inside Halas Hall can attest to that.
“We haven’t won a lot of games here, so, yeah, things might be a little bit different,” Poles said. “You may not be the only person.”