Caleb Williams Says He 'Wanted to Be' with Bears in Response to Vikings Draft Rumors

ESPN's Seth Wickersham reported in his upcoming book, American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback, that Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and his father, Carl, weren't exactly thrilled about the possibility of him being drafted by the Bears and had reservations about playing under former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

He also reported that the young quarterback greatly preferred to be drafted by Minnesota.

On Wednesday, however, Williams told reporters he wanted to be drafted by the Bears, seemingly hoping to clear the air as the team heads into an exciting new era with Ben Johnson as head coach:

It would be hard to blame Williams or his father if they had reservations about Chicago. Since the Jay Cutler days, the team didn't exactly get the best out of players like Mitchell Trubisky or Justin Fields, and the organization was something of a quarterback graveyard in the mid-90s and early 2000s.

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

Some of their concerns were proved downright valid, as Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus were fired midseason and the Bears limped to a 5-12 season. Chicago hasn't reached the postseason since 2020 and has just three playoff appearances since 2007.

And Williams revealed that he was often left to simply watch film on his own, without instruction, a fairly shocking revelation.

Johnson addressed the situation during OTAs.

"It's come to my attention that the quarterback's been out in the media over the last week," he told reporters. "And just to get out in front of that a little bit, I just wanted to say I wasn't here last year, and so I can't speak too much in terms of what it was like before he got here and when he got here last year. But from my four months on the job, he's been outstanding to work with. And we just are focused on getting a little better every day. ... He's his own man. He's going to be treated as such. I think we're both really looking forward to turning the page on years prior and focusing on the here and now."