CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears agreed to terms with first-round pick Kevin White on a four-year contract with a fifth-year option, and with second-round pick Eddie Goldman on a four-year deal, the team announced.
As the seventh overall selection, White can earn a maximum year-one salary of $3,011,463, per the 2015 NFL rookie compensation pool. The minimum White can collect in Year 1 is $1,384,224.
The Bears envision White, who caught 109 passes for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns last year at West Virginia, as the team’s starting wide receiver opposite Alshon Jeffery.
“This guy is dynamic,” Bears general manager Ryan Pace said. “He’s big. He’s strong. He’s ultra-competitive. If I could stress one word for this player: He’s competitive. You see it after the catch. You see it in the way he attacks the ball in the air. This is a dynamic playmaker for our offense. This is a big-play weapon for us; a competitive, tough player. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have him.”
One of the lone knocks against White is he played only 24 games at West Virginia after transferring from Lackawanna Junior College.
Some draft experts theorized that White may face a steep NFL learning curve, but Pace disagrees.
“I saw every route I needed to see from that player,” Pace said. “One of the most difficult routes for a receiver to run is a come-back route, you see that from him. You see it at his pro day, you see it at his workouts, and if you watch the film on him, you see all that. This guy is a special athlete and for his size. He’s big, and he runs a 4.3, and he’s strong after the catch, and he’s a physical blocker.”
Pace added: “He really checks all the boxes we’re looking for in a receiver in our offense. This guy can play all over. Really, I see him as an outside receiver but what’s dangerous about this guy, he can catch a quick slant or he can attack and go 99 yards. He has that kind of play-making ability. You see it with wide-receiver screens and now-routes and things like that where you throw him a little-short check-down, and he’s gone.”
Meantime, the 2015 NFL rookie compensation pool allows Goldman to earn a maximum year-one salary of $1,033,875. The minimum amount Goldman can receive from the Bears in Year 1 is $674,827.
Goldman was a two-year starter at Florida State where he recorded 35 tackles, eight tackles for loss and four sacks in his junior year before declaring for the draft.
Goldman was named to the Associated Press All-America first team and All-ACC first team.
“When I think about the standout traits with Eddie Goldman, it’s strength, stout at the point of attack,” Pace said. “He’s very instinctive. He’s strong. He gets off blocks. I really like the pad level he plays with. He steps up in big moments. Up at the Clemson game this year, there’s three game-changing plays he makes to basically win that game for Florida State. This is a stout, strong nose tackle that anchors the middle of your defense. I think he is an ascending player.”
At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, the Bears feel Goldman can work at nose tackle, along with veteran starter Jeremiah Ratliff.
“He’s a true, low, strong nose tackle,” Pace said. “He’s played all over the defensive line, I think his best position is nose tackle; I really think he’s natural at that. Some guys just have a natural ability to play with a low center of gravity and leverage, and he definitely has it. It’s easy for him to get underneath blocks.”
However, Goldman wants to prove he can rush the passer at the NFL level. He had just six sacks in 37 career games at Florida State.
“Pass rush is something scouts knock me for but I think I can pass rush with the best of them,” Goldman said. “We just have to wait and see because I’m definitely going to prove everyone wrong.”