On Thursday evening, the Chicago Bears took a step into the future by selecting former USC quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with the number one overall pick–which they owned courtesy of a previous trade with the Carolina Panthers, who finished with the worst record in the NFL this year–in the 2024 NFL Draft. Williams joins a Bears team that has a vacancy at quarterback following their trade of Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for draft compensation earlier this offseason.

One person who was excited to see Williams headed to the Windy City was none other than Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, who not only plays in Williams' new home city but also hails from Southern California, where Williams played his college ball and played at USC.

“On behalf of Chicago and the Bulls, we want to welcome you, Caleb, to the family, to the city,” said DeRozan, per the Bulls' team account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “You're going to do big things, and fight on.”

A highly important decision

As previously mentioned, the Bears opened up their quarterback position by trading Justin Fields, who had been up and down during his Chicago stint, to the Steelers, and opening up the door for Williams' arrival. Williams boasts a unique combination of athleticism, arm strength, and accuracy which garnered comparisons to Patrick Mahomes throughout his college career and led to him winning the Heisman Trophy during the 2022-23 season. In fact, it's likely that if Williams had been eligible, he would have been the number one overall pick a year ago at this time.

Williams joins a Bears squad that has already made some moves in anticipation of his arrival, including acquiring former Los Angeles Chargers receiver Keenan Allen to help bolster a receiving core that left a bit to be desired over the last couple of seasons.

In any case, the Bears' brass will now look to continue to add talent and depth to their rebuilding roster as the NFL Draft continues throughout this week and into the weekend.