Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams will sign a four-year contract worth about $39.4 million with the Chicago Bears after being the first player picked in the 89th NFL Draft on Thursday night.

That’s about $1.4 million more than Bryce Young signed for after the Carolina Panthers selected the Alabama quarterback with the No. 1 choice in last year’s NFL Draft.

Players chosen in the first round receive four-year contracts that carry a team option for a fifth season. Each will be fully guaranteed.

The values of those contracts are based on the NFL’s salary cap of $255.4 million for the 2024 season and this year’s rookie compensation pool in a formula spelled out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players association. That makes it possible to estimate the money allotted to each draft slot (and the sports financial web site spotrac.com has done so).

The values of the contracts lessen as the draft goes on, of course, but they don’t decline at a standard rate. In the first round, the biggest difference between contract values is from the sixth to the seventh pick and the seventh to the eighth pick. There’s a gap of about $2.9 million between each.

Three Alabama players were selected in the first round on Thursday night. Offensive tackle J.C. Latham went to the Tennessee Titans at No. 7, linebacker Dallas Turner went to the Minnesota Vikings at No. 17 and cornerback Terrion Arnold went to the Detroit Lions at No. 24. For Latham, that’s about a $26 million contract, with $15.7 million for Turner and $14.3 million for Arnold.

Former Pinson Valley High School star Bo Nix, who played his first three college seasons at Auburn, went at No. 12 to the Denver Broncos. That’s about an $18.6 million contract for the Oregon quarterback.

For most of the first-rounders, more than half of the money in a their contracts will be in the form of a signing bonus. While that results in a windfall for the player, teams can prorate the signing bonus across the four years of the contract for salary-cap purposes, so instead of Williams being around a $26.5 million salary-cap hit for the Bears in 2024, he’ll count about $6.4 million against Chicago’s cap

Here are the estimated four-year contract values for the 2024 NFL Draft first-round picks (with the figures from spotrac.com):

· 1. Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears: $39.4 million, including a $25.5 million signing bonus

· 2. LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders: $37.7 million, including a $24.2 million signing bonus

· 3. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, New England Patriots: $36.6 million, including a $23.4 million signing bonus

· 4. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals: $35.3 million, including a $22.5 million signing bonus

· 5. Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt, Los Angeles Chargers: $33.1 million, including a $20.9 million signing bonus

· 6. LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, New York Giants: $29.2 million, including an $18 million signing bonus

· 7. Alabama offensive tackle J.C. Latham, Tennessee Titans: $26 million, including a $15.7 million signing bonus

· 8. Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons: $22.8 million, including a $13.4 million signing bonus

· 9. Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears: $22.7 million, including a $13.3 million signing bonus

· 10. Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings: $21.8 million, including a $12.7 million signing bonus

· 11. Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, New York Jets: $20.5 million, including an $11.7 million signing bonus

· 12. Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, Denver Broncos: $18.6 million, including a $10.3 million signing bonus

· 13. Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders: $18.1 million, including a $10 million signing bonus

· 14. Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, New Orleans Saints: $17.3 million, including a $9.4 million signing bonus

· 15. UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu, Indianapolis Colts: $17 million, including a $9.2 million signing bonus

· 16. Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy, Seattle Seahawks: $16 million, including an $8.5 million signing bonus

· 17. Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner, Minnesota Vikings: $15.7 million, including an $8.2 million signing bonus

· 18. Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims, Cincinnati Bengals: $15.3 million, including a $7.9 million signing bonus

· 19. Florida State defensive end Jared Verse, Los Angeles Rams: $15.1 million, including a $7.8 million signing bonus

· 20. Washington offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, Pittsburgh Steelers: $15 million, including a $7.7 million signing bonus

· 21. Penn State defensive end Chop Robinson, Miami Dolphins: $14.9 million, including a $7.7 million signing bonus

· 22. Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia Eagles: $14.8 million, including a $7.5 million signing bonus

· 23. LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars: $14.6 million, including a $7.4 million signing bonus

· 24. Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold, Detroit Lions: $14.3 million, including a $7.2 million signing bonus

· 25. Arizona offensive tackle Jordan Morgan, Green Bay Packers: $14.1 million, including a $7.1 million signing bonus

· 26. Duke center Graham Barton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $14 million, including a $7 million signing bonus

· 27. Missouri defensive end Darius Robinson, Arizona Cardinals: $13.8 million, including a $6.9 million signing bonus

· 28. Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs: $13.8 million, including a $6.8 million signing bonus

· 29. Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton, Dallas Cowboys: $13.1 million, including a $6.3 million signing bonus

· 30. Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins, Baltimore Ravens: $12.8 million, including a $6.1 million signing bonus

· 31. Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers: $12.5 million, including a $5.9 million signing bonus

· 32. South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers: $12.3 million, including a $5.8 million signing bonus

The NFL Draft resumes at 6 p.m. CDT Friday, when the Buffalo Bills are scheduled to make the first selection in the second round.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.