Caleb Williams set his sights on being the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft long before 2024. But 10-year-old Caleb didn't consider one reality that comes with that lofty status: Teams only get the No. 1 pick because they're bad.
Faced with the prospect of landing with the Chicago Bears, 22-year-old Caleb and his family explored every option for avoiding the Windy City.
According to Seth Wickersham's new book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, the Williams camp consulted Archie Manning to learn how he kept Eli from the Chargers. They met with labor lawyers and agents to see about challenging the collective bargaining agreement. They considered the drastic step of signing with a UFL team and joining the NFL in 2025 as an unrestricted free agent, free to choose the team they wanted.
Williams' reasons for avoiding Chicago aren't totally unreasonable. Carl Williams proclaimed, "Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die." And he's not wrong there. The Bears' track record with QBs is pretty dire. And Williams specifically doubted the abilities of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. He was right to worry there.
In the end, none of those options became viable enough. Williams ultimately embraced the challenge of taking the Bears from the bottom to the top.
"I can do it for this team," Williams said. "I'm going to go to the Bears."
Caleb Williams' anxieties about the Bears coaching staff proved true
Of course, he got the full Bears QB experience as a rookie. He was constantly hounded by pass rushers and lost 10 games in a row. In the background, the coaching staff left him with "no instruction or guidance," per ESPN.
There's a reason Chicago has a reputation for failing QBs and they didn't do much to prove otherwise in 2024.
At least the organization has shown a willingness to support their young franchise quarterback in a way past players weren't. The only thing better than getting Kevin O'Connell — who Williams desired to play for — to flip to Chicago was hiring Ben Johnson to steer the ship.