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Bears Sign Payne

By Adam T

The Bears must take to heart the whole "set the bar, don't wait for somebody else to do it for you", because they have inked another draft pick.

The Bears have signed fifth round draft pick Kevin Payne.  The safety out of Louisiana Monroe, like 3rd rounder Garrett Wolfe, signed a 4 year deal.

Payne also signed a four-year contract with an escalator in the final season. The basic contract totals $1.815 million, with the potential to earn more based on playing time and interceptions. It includes a $150,000 signing bonus and league-minimum base salaries of $285,000 (for 2007), $370,000 (2008), $460,000 (2009) and $550,000 (2010). The signing bonus represents about an 8 percent increase over the same fifth-round slot in 2006."

Chicago was the first team in the league last year to have all its draft choices under contract, with director of player contracts Cliff Stein finishing all seven of the Bears' rookie deals three weeks before the start of training camp. The task will be a little more difficult this year. The Bears had nine selections last month, two more than in 2006. And unlike a year ago, when Chicago didn't have a No. 1 selection, there is a first-round pick, University of Miami tight end Greg Olsen, to sign.

Credit: tyger1147

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