Bears sign Gators LB Jon Bostic for four years

Updated: May 10 at 11:00 p.m.

Former Florida Gators linebacker Jon Bostic has signed a four-year, $3.941 million contract with the Chicago Bears.

The rookie’s agreement was officially announced by the team on Thursday, making Bostic the first of Florida’s eight draftees to come to terms with the team that selected him in April’s draft.

Bostic was chosen by the Bears with the No. 50 overall pick in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was the third overall Gators player selected during the event and the first to have his name called (coincidentally by former Florida and Chicago running back Neal Anderson) on the second day of the three-day draft.

Bostic is the first Gators linebacker selected since Brandon Spikes (No. 62, 2010) and the 24th UF player drafted by the Bears in the history of the event.

He is the first Florida player to be picked by Chicago since safety Major Wright (No. 75, 2010), who is entering his fourth year with the franchise.

Bostic’s four-year rookie deal includes a $1.246 million signing bonus and $405,000 in first-year salary. He will earn $584,127 in 2014, $663,254 in 2015 and $842,381 in 2016 and will also be eligible for $100,000 workout bonuses in both 2015 and 2016.

Expected to compete immediately for the starting middle linebacker job, Bostic will be counted on to have a major impact on the Bears’ defense in 2013 even if he does not win the position. Chicago believes he can line up and start at all three linebacker spots.

“It’s really starting to sink in now,” Bostic told the team’s website. “It’s hard to believe that it’s all here. It’s something you dream about all your life as a kid and then all of a sudden you open your eyes this morning and it’s right in front of you.”