Bears $1.5 Million Free Agent Signing Dubbed Top ‘Luxury’ Player

The Chicago Bears have made several key additions to their roster during the 2025 offseason, including signing a wide receiver that ESPN’s Bill Barnwell considers one of the top “luxury” players in the NFL ahead of the new season.

On Thursday, Barnwell identified the top players at “luxury” positions — such as short-yardage running back and slot cornerback — for the 2025 season and declared Bears free-agent signing Olamide Zaccheaus as the best “fourth wide receiver” in the league.

“While Zaccheaus might have been something closer to the second or third wide receiver for the [Washington] Commanders last season, he is expected to slot in behind DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and rookie second-round pick Luther Burden III in Chicago,” Barnwell wrote Thursday.

“Don’t be surprised if Zaccheaus is on the field more often than you would expect — coaches love him.”

Olamide Zaccheaus Gives Bears Valuable WR Experience

The Bears signed Zaccheaus to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on March 17 after he caught a career-high 45 passes for 506 yards and three touchdowns over 17 games for the Commanders in 2024. He also helped provide a reliable second target opposite star Terry McLaurin for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels throughout his maiden voyage.

In Chicago, Zaccheaus will look to provide the same type of reliability for quarterback Caleb Williams in his second season. He also adds valuable experience to a receiving corps that largely lacks it, with more career receptions (149) and receiving yards (1,998) than all but two players — Moore and tight end Cole Kmet — on the Bears’ 2025 roster.

“The only blemish on Zaccheaus’ 2024 record is his three fumbles, all of which came on punt return duties,” Barnwell wrote. “The Bears signed Devin Duvernay to take over the return work in Chicago, and Zaccheaus had only one fumble in his career before last season, so I’m willing to write that off as a bit of a fluke. Zaccheaus won’t be the Bears’ wideout who sells the most jerseys this offseason, but he should be on the field plenty.”

Could Luther Burden III Open Season Behind Zaccheaus?

Barnwell’s assumption that Zaccheaus will start the season as the Bears’ No. 4 receiver is one many have shared in the weeks since the team drafted Burden with the 39th pick, but that may not be the case if Burden’s injury troubles persist into training camp.

Burden suffered what Johnson described as a “soft-tissue injury” in early May during rookie minicamp and missed the remainder of the Bears’ offseason program, including all of their OTAs and mandatory minicamp earlier this month. While the Bears expect him back for camp, Johnson didn’t mince words about the valuable time he missed.

“He misses a lot,” Johnson said at the end of minicamp. “Any time you’re not out there, if you’re in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you’re losing valuable time; valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we’re talking about.

“It’s not just the coaching staff having trust in you, doing the right thing over and over, but it’s also your teammates. They have to be out there; they have to see you do it. They have to know that the guy to the right and the left of them are going to do the right things, and they’re going to make the plays when called upon.”

Burden will still have time to catch up with the rest of the Bears offense, especially if he has taken his mental reps and learning the playbook seriously. But if he struggles to get up to speed during camp, Zaccheaus could overtake him as the No. 3 to start the year.