The Chicago Bears drafted Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This much is fact, but Williams wasn't always so sold on the Bears. Williams' father in particular tried to manufacture a way for Williams to avoid Chicago altogether. Per a report by ESPN, Williams came away impressed in a pre-combine meeting with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell, which nearly spurred some draft drama no one would've seen coming.
"After an up-and-down final season at USC, Caleb Williams was unsure of what he wanted to do as he prepared for the 2024 draft. At the NFL combine that year, he met with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell. The two hit it off, and Caleb Williams began to dream of what it would be like to play for Minnesota," ESPN's Seth Wickersham wrote in a forthcoming book.
The Vikings ended up selecting Michigan product JJ McCarthy, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. It was always a longshot for the Bears to trade their top pick given their need at the QB position. It also didn't help that the Vikings reside in the same division as Chicago.
Williams' father, Carl, was at the center of this entire controversy, working behind the scenes to find his son the best possible landing spot. There was even speculation among the Williams camp that Caleb could forgo the draft entirely, instead signing in the UFL or eventually becoming a free agent to pick his next team. However, Bears general manager Ryan Poles wasn't having any of that, making it crystal clear that Williams would be drafted by Chicago no matter what.
Caleb Williams wanted to be a Minnesota Viking, but the Bears wouldn't allow it
Considering Poles' stance, there was only one option left, and that was to make Williams demands public and attack the Bears franchise. Thankfully, Williams had enough know-how not to ask that of his father.
"He's worried about me taking bullets," Carl Williams told Wickersham of his son. "I don't care. I just don't agree with this s---, you know? I'm more interested in making sure that he can do what he wants to do."
Per Williams and Wickersham, Caleb wasn't ready to go "nuke city."
None of this will play well with Bears fans who have long waited for their quarterback savior. Carl Williams went as far as to tell Wickersham that Chicago is where quarterbacks go to die. He's not entirely wrong in that statement, but it's a bad look after Caleb's rookie season, which was filled with ups and downs.
O'Connell is a quarterback guru, and made Sam Darnold look like the second coming of Tom Brady just last season. It's easy to understand why any quarterback would want to play in his system. However, Williams sole job at this point is to help turn the Bears into a contender.
Ben Johnson and the Bears new leadership don't need this kind of distraction.