Caleb Williams Reportedly Tried to Avoid Bears in NFL Draft, Wanted Trade to Vikings

Caleb Williams is the Chicago Bears' franchise quarterback, but he reportedly didn't want to be ahead of the 2024 NFL draft.

ESPN relayed details from the upcoming book American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback by Seth Wickersham on Thursday, which included the revelation that Williams' father, Carl, didn't want his son to play for a Bears franchise that has traditionally struggled to develop quarterbacks.

"Do I want to go there? I don't think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron," Caleb Williams is quoted as saying in the book.

Williams told his father that he wanted to go to the Minnesota Vikings after meeting with head coach Kevin O'Connell, according to Wickersham's book, although the Bears refused to do anything but draft him with the No. 1 pick.

The details are rather damning for the state of the Bears before the 2024 draft and at times during the USC product's rookie campaign.

"Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die," Carl Williams said in the book.

The quarterback told his father that the coaching staff wouldn't instruct him on how to watch film or even join him for much of his study, which he ended up doing alone.

"No one tells me what to watch," he said. "I just turn it on."

The coaching situation was abysmal for Chicago in 2024.

The team fired head coach Matt Eberflus in November after a series of critical mistakes, which included not guarding the sidelines on the penultimate play against the Washington Commanders to allow them to move into Hail Mary range. Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels then completed a Hail Mary without facing any pressure.

Eberflus also didn't run any plays in the final 30 seconds of a game against the rival Green Bay Packers despite still having a timeout. He settled for a 46-yard field goal that got blocked. Eberflus likewise didn't call a timeout after Williams took a sack with 32 seconds remaining in the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, which caused chaos and a desperation heave:

Chicago also fired Waldron in November, which meant Williams at least didn't have to continue working with the offensive coordinator whom he was worried about in the first place.

It was frankly more of the same for a franchise that failed to develop first-round picks Mitchell Trubisky or Justin Fields in part because of poor coaching and a lack of offensive weapons around them. The offensive line was also consistently an issue in recent years, which didn't change in 2024.

Williams and his father saw some of this coming. Wickersham reported that Carl went as far as meeting with Archie Manning—who famously helped his son Eli end up on the New York Giants in 2004—and considered seeing if his son could sign with the United Football League and become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

After general manager Ryan Poles told Williams, "We're drafting you no matter what," the quarterback decided against publicly criticizing the organization and creating an untenable situation.

"I wasn't ready to nuke the city," he said.

According to Wickersham, Caleb told his father, "I can do it for this team" following a predraft meeting. "I'm going to go to the Bears."

While Chicago fell apart after that Hail Mary against Washington and finished in last place in the NFC North at 5-12, there is plenty of reason for optimism moving into Williams' second season.

The front office overhauled the offensive line this offseason by adding Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson. The Bears also drafted tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III to add to an offense that already features DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet.

The offensive line issues and lack of weapons that Fields faced as he struggled to live up to expectations in the Windy City are no longer a problem for Williams. The Bears also have a new offensive-minded head coach in Ben Johnson, who just helped the Lions establish themselves as one of the best teams in the league when he was the offensive coordinator.

It is the type of partnership that has long been missing in Chicago and one that could put Williams' predraft concerns firmly in the rearview mirror.