Bombshell Caleb Williams report includes UFL threat, Vikings plan and more

Things are on the upswing for the Chicago Bears, and fingers crossed for fans this team is finally on the verge of turning the corner. A monster offseason which included numerous big trades to improve the offensive line, and the hiring of Ben Johnson, the best offensive mind in the NFL to become head coach should be enough to make Caleb Williams a lot more productive.

While a lot of things are looking up the timing of a new book could not be worse, especially as it pertains to the Bears’ franchise quarterback. ESPN’s Seth Wickersham is set to release American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, and as part of his research he spent significant time with Williams’ camp ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft — and the reports are bad.

It’s one thing to have reservations about being picked by a terrible team at No. 1, but according to Wickersham the reservations that Caleb and his family had about Chicago were so pronounced that Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, looked into how the quarterback could circumvent the draft, potentially playing in the UFL for a season, and even spoke to Archie Manning about how he managed to ensure Eli didn’t play for the Chargers when he was selected in 2004.

“Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die. [...] I don’t want my son playing for the Bears,” Williams told several agents in 2024.

Before you hand wave this off and simply a parent being overbearing, there was decent evidence behind the concern. In recent years the Bears had taken Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields, blaming the quarterbacks on both occasions for the team’s struggles and cutting their careers short as a result. It was enough that Caleb Williams himseld is quoted with worries about going to Chicago.

“Do I want to go there? I don’t think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron.”

It was Caleb’s desire initially to play for the Vikings, and the Williams camp pressed the Bears on trying to make a trade with Minnesota for the No. 1 overall pick.

“I need to go to the Vikings,” he told his father.

“Let’s do it,” his father replied. But both Caleb and Carl knew that a trade to a divisional rival was extremely unlikely.

Bears GM Ryan Poles stood firm, telling Williams, “We’re drafting you no matter what.”

Now, to be fair to both the Williams family and the Bears, apparently Caleb was sold that he could turn the franchise around after a pre-draft visit. That said, leaning on this a little too much feels labored when his acceptance of the Bears only came AFTER his father looked into circumventing the draft, a trade proposal was rejected, and the only option seemed to be getting drafted by Chicago.

Should Bears fans be worried? Not really. Obviously it hurts to find out your quarterback wanted to do everything in his power not to come to your team, but you can’t really blame him when the front office in Chicago was poised to saddle a rookie quarterback with a horrific lame duck coach in Matt Eberflus and a mediocre offensive coordinator in Shane Waldron.

That all changes now, and Johnson is unquestionably the right man for the job. This will likely end up just being a blip on the radar, but it’ll definitely make waves for a few days.