It didn’t take long for Oregon Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman to find his new home in the NFL. He was selected with the No. 25 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. It’s a night Thieneman won’t soon forget, and a pick the Bears likely won't regret.
With the status of a first-round pick comes a first-round payday. Thieneman will receive the standard four-year contract for a first-round rookie from the Bears and a fifth-year option. The contract is projected to be worth $19.5 million with a signing bonus of $10.6 million, according to Spotrac.
Thieneman spent only one season with the Ducks after transferring in from Purdue, but his impact left a lasting impression. Oregon deployed the All-American safety across their defense, both as a deep safety and as a rover over the middle. He finished second on the team with 92 tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass deflections in the secondary. Thieneman earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
In two seasons at Purdue, Thieneman racked up 210 tackles and nabbed six interceptions in his freshman season before entering the transfer portal as the top safety available and choosing the Ducks. Oregon defensive coordinator Chris Hampton and director of speed and performance Kyle Bolton both joined Thieneman in Pittsburgh for the draft and watched as he crossed the stage and into the next level.
Thieneman was the second safety drafted in the first round, with Ohio State's Caleb Downs going No. 11 overall to the Dallas Cowboys.
Although Thieneman was the only Duck in Pittsburgh to hear his name called, he wasn't alone. Tight end Kenyon Sadiq was selected by the New York Jets with the No. 16 pick in the first round and became the first Duck off the board. Thieneman's selection marked the second straight draft in which multiple Ducks were selected in the first round. Dan Lanning and the Ducks expect to hear several more names called over the next couple of days.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Projected salary, bonus for Dillon Thieneman with Chicago Bears