Caleb Williams and his father looked into circumventing the 2024 NFL Draft to avoid going to the Chicago Bears as the No. 1 pick, according to details from a forthcoming book.
“Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die,” Williams’ father, Carl Williams, said to ESPN writer Seth Wickersham, author of “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” prior to the draft.
Concerned about the Bears’ first-round misfires with quarterbacks Justin Fields (2021) and Mitchell Trubisky (2017), Carl Williams explored ways to avoid the draft and also get around the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
“The rookie cap is just unconstitutional,” Carl Williams told Wickersham, adding that the CBA is the “worst piece of s— I’ve ever read. It’s the worst in sports history.”
Caleb Williams would have preferred going to Minnesota after hitting it off with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell at the combine, according to the book that is due to hit shelves in September.
Despite the concerns of the Williams family, Bears general manager Ryan Poles told the former Southern California signal-caller: “We’re drafting you no matter what.”
The Bears declined to comment to ESPN on the revelations made in Wickersham’s book.
Williams, 23, wound up starting all 17 games for Chicago as a rookie last year, completing 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.
The Bears finished 5-12 and parted ways with head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron along the way.
Under new head coach Ben Johnson and new coordinator Declan Doyle, Williams and the Bears kick off the 2025 regular season on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 8 against the Vikings at Soldier Field.
–Field Level Media
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