The Chicago Bears are back in action this week for offseason training activities (OTAs). It’s the first year under new coach Ben Johnson and year two for the franchise with quarterback Caleb Williams.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft made headlines weeks ago for an excerpt from ESPN writer Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book, ‘American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.’ That excerpt included information that Williams’ family looked into potential ways he could circumvent the draft and avoid playing for the Bears.
‘For this to come out, it’s been a distraction,’ Williams said. ‘All that went down, all that was said, yeah, I had a good visit at the other place, Minnesota. Kevin O’Connell, good staff and all that… but something that keeps getting lost, something that keeps… not being addressed the way it needs to be is the fact that I went on that visit first.
Then after I came (to Chicago) … I went back home, talked to my dad, and all of the things that were supposed to be these big things that everybody’s been talking about recently, one, never happened in the sense of, they were all thoughts, they were all ideas.’
The excerpt from Wickersham’s book included quotes from Williams’ father, Carl, saying that ‘Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die,’ ‘the rookie cap is just unconstitutional’ and the current NFL collective bargaining agreement is the ‘worst piece of s— I’ve ever read. It’s the worst in sports history.’
It detailed that the the Williams family looked into possibly having him sign with a United Football League team for a year before coming to the NFL as a free agent in 2025.
Wickersham’s excerpt stated that after his visit in Chicago, Williams told his father he could be a part of the franchise changing.
‘It was a deliberate and determined answer that I had,’ Williams said at OTAs. ‘I wanted to come here and be the guy and be a part and be a reason of why the Chicago Bears turned this thing around.’
Chicago started Williams’ rookie season 4-2 before losing 10 straight games after their bye week. The franchise made an unprecedented move of firing a coach mid-season with Matt Eberflus let go after a loss to the Detroit Lions.
Williams said he loves being in Chicago and still has one main goal in mind.
‘The main objective of being here is to turn (things) around,’ he said. ‘That’s what we’re here to do. That’s what they brought me here to do, that’s what they brought all these guys here to do. Joe (Thuney), DJ (Moore), all these different guys. And that’s why they brought Ben (Johnson) here.
‘It’s a challenge and we look at those challenges and we don’t laugh, we look at them really seriously and we go attack them to the best of our ability.’