First Round Pick Carimi Agrees to terms

The Bears on Friday agreed to terms with first-round draft pick Gabe Carimi on a four-year contract. Terms were not disclosed.

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</td></tr></tbody></table>Carimi started all 49 games he played at Wisconsin after stepping in as a freshman at left tackle to replace Joe Thomas, the third overall pick in the 2007 draft. Carimi won the Outland Trophy last season as the nation’s best interior lineman. He told reporters at the NFL Combine that he felt he was the No. 1 tackle in the draft because “I’m physically strong and have more career starts and better knowledge of the game than any other tackle out there. I have a better résumé of going against better talent than anyone else, so that makes me more [pro] ready.”
Carimi performed well in Big Ten action against three defensive ends who were also selected in the first-round of the draft: Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan, Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn and Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward. In addition, Carimi honed his skills in practice versus another first-round pick, Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt.
“I think the kid is a plug-and-play right tackle,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock wrote before the draft. “Throw him in there and he’s a starter on Day 1. And he’s a starter for the next 10 years. He’s got a little attitude and there’s something tough about him. He’s a good football player.”


All five of the Bears’ 2011 are now under contract.

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