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Chicago Bears agree to terms with top draft pick Floyd

With Friday's signing of first-round linebacker Leonard Floyd to a four-year contract with a fifth-year option, the Bears have agreed to terms with eight of their nine draft picks.

Floyd is expected to earn $15.78 million over the first four years of his deal, including a projected signing bonus of $9.68 million in the NFL's slotted rookie scale.

The Bears traded up two spots in last month's draft to make Floyd the ninth overall selection, and the outside linebacker is being counted on to jump start a Bears pass rush that produced 35 sacks last season, 22nd in the league.

The 6-foot-6, 244-pound Floyd never accumulated more than 6.5 sacks in any of his three seasons at Georgia and had just 4.5 last season. But the Bears expect him to be more of a sack threat, since they will use him primarily as a pass rusher. At Georgia, Floyd played multiple roles, including pass coverage where he displayed the speed and agility to cover running backs and tight ends.

"He's very athletic," Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "He's long. He can run. He's got good instincts. They used him all over the place, so I think he has good football instincts, which we'll see if that translates here.

"There were a lot of things to like from his athletic ability and movement. He's got some pass-rush talent, and he can play in coverage."

Floyd said at the Bears' rookie minicamp that he's already noticed an improvement specializing as a pass rusher.

"I was playing a whole lot faster," he said, "just having to worry about my one position and my keys."

Of the few knocks on Floyd are his lack of bulk and strength, but Fangio doesn't consider that a problem.

"The weight thing's not a big thing with me," the Bears' defensive coordinator said. "He's going to weigh somewhere between 230 and 235. That's just what he's going to weigh. We knew that before we drafted him. So it's not an issue. We knew that, and that's a fact, and that's what he is."

In 32 games with the Bulldogs, Floyd had 184 tackles, 28.5 tackles for loss and 17 sacks.

Floyd says his weight wasn't a problem then, and he doesn't expect it to be one now.

"It really didn't matter what I weighed," he said. "I just went out and played."

Still, the Bears have already taken steps to help Floyd follow a proper nutrition plan.

"I've got prompts set up on my phone of times in the day that I'm supposed to eat," he said. "I'd have to say every couple hours I get an alarm going off on my phone."

Defensive end Jonathan Bullard, the Bears' third-rounder, is the team's only 2016 draft pick who has yet to sign.

• Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere.

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