A bombshell fell over the NFL world on Thursday with details in a soon-to-be-released book by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, titled “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” that quarterback Caleb Williams tried to avoid being drafted by the Chicago Bears last year.
Williams had quite the successful season on a personal level, throwing for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions, placing himself in both franchise and NFL record books for some of his performances. Although it wasn’t the best environment for the rookie, which seemed to match his initial fears about joining the organization.
We have examined all of the top nuggets that were shared in the ESPN article, and how they pertain to Williams. From the CFL to avoiding the Bears, we rounded up the most insane things that we learned.
Caleb Williams considered joining the UFL
The Bears must have built such a bad reputation for young quarterbacks that Williams and his family tried to find a way around the NFL draft and considered going to the United Football League. It would’ve not only been a massive blow to the Bears organization but to the NFL in what would’ve been an unprecedented move for a top pick in the draft to try and go elsewhere.
Caleb Williams wanted to play for the Minnesota Vikings
The biggest takeaway from this is that coaching matters, and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell made quite the impression on Williams during the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, prompting Williams to declare: “I need to go to the Vikings.” Instead of landing Williams, Minnesota drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in last year’s draft. McCarthy missed all of his rookie season due to knee surgery, and in his place veteran Sam Darnold enjoyed a career resurgence with O’Connell leading the way.
Carl Williams planned to attack the Bears and city of Chicago
Naming Chicago as a place where “quarterbacks go to die,” Carl Williams was going to do anything he could to help his son avoid the Bears. Attacking the organization and their lack of success at the quarterback position would’ve been an awful start to the relationship between team and quarterback, but there was a lot of reason to be negative. Not only have the Bears never had a 4,000 yard passer, and their last two high quarterback selections, Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields, did not pan out. But Caleb “wasn’t ready to nuke the city.”
Ryan Poles refused to fold on landing Caleb Williams
After Williams and his father were convinced on getting to the Minnesota Vikings, Bears general manager Ryan Poles put his foot down and made it clear that Chicago wouldn’t be trading him — especially to a division rival. “We’re drafting you no matter what,” he said. After his pre-draft visit, Williams came away believing he could help turn this franchise around.
Caleb Williams knew it wouldn’t work with OC Shane Waldron
The signs were there from the start with former Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron daring back to even OTAs and training camp. Still, former head coach Matt Eberflus refused to make changes until November when Waldron was fired and Thomas Brown promoted to interim offensive coordinator. Williams reportedly knew it wasn’t going to be a match between him and his offensive coordinator — telling Wickersham “I don’t think I can do it with Waldron.” The Bears should’ve collected that intel and avoided hiring him or moved quickly to move him off the position before the regular season began.
Caleb Williams had to watch film by himself at times without his coaches
When talking about coaching ineptitude, that was never more apparent than with Shane Waldron and Matt Eberflus. Both coaches were fired in the middle of last season, but it was a less than an ideal situation for a quarterback, let alone a rookie. A young quarterback not being able to rely on his coaches, or a coaching staff that didn’t give him the attention in the film room is how failure happens, and the Bears had a failure of a season last year. “At times, Williams said he would watch film alone, with no instruction or guidance from the coaches. ‘No one tells me what to watch,’ Caleb Williams told his dad. ‘I just turn it on.'”
Carl Williams frustrated with rookie wage scale
Even though Caleb Williams would go on to sign a fully-guaranteed, four-year, $39.49 million contract that included a $25.5 million signing bonus, Carl Williams was not a fan of the rookie wage scale. He was not pleased with the NFL’s CBA which sets the market for rookie draft picks, but Williams got a pretty fair and large contract in his first deal in the NFL. “The rookie cap is just unconstitutional,” Carl Williams told Wickersham, later adding that the CBA is the “worst piece of s— I’ve ever read. It’s the worst in sports history.”
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram