Perhaps the biggest decision any NFL franchise had to make this offseason revolves around the Chicago Bears and their quarterback situation. That question was essentially answered on Saturday when the Bears shipped incumbent starter Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2025.
With Fields out of Chicago, all roads lead to the Bears selecting USC quarterback Caleb Williams as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. That was the consensus around the NFL and the media even before the Bears traded Fields, but now it is all but a guarantee.
Is it a guarantee that Williams wants to play in Chicago though? Former NFL QB and current analyst Robert Griffin III thinks Williams should look for another situation and tell the Bears he doesn’t want them to draft him.
“After everything that happened with just Justin Fields,” Griffin said on X, “can Caleb Williams look at that and say ‘this is the organization that has my best interest at heart and is going to help develop me into the player that I want to become.”
The Bears drafted Fields in 2021 and did not exactly build around him in the three years he was in Chicago. It is worth noting though, that Bears general manager Ryan Poles took over in 2022 and was not with Chicago when they selected Fields.
If Williams were to take Griffin's advice, it would be surprising but not completely unprecedented. Eli Manning told the then-San Diego Chargers not to draft him with the first pick in 2004. The Chargers did select Manning but had a trade in place with the New York Giants to ship him there. We all know how well that turned out for Manning and the Giants.
Bears making moves for present, future
Manning's situation is different compared to Williams', especially considering the Bears were not the worst team in the league record-wise last season after a seven-win campaign.
Chicago has been busy this offseason making upgrades to its offense. It signed 1,000-yard rusher D'Andre Swift via free agency and acquired six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen in a trade with the Chargers, among other moves.
On paper, going to the Bears doesn’t seem like a move that will kill Williams' NFL career. Chicago has a solid defense and improved several areas of its offense. It expects Williams to be the guy for the next 10-15 years and is trying to make sure the situation he's entering is much different from the one Justin Fields was entering three years ago when the Bears took him in the first round.
Caleb Williams said on several occasions that he's excited about the opportunity to play in Chicago. It would be a complete shock if he did a 180 before or during the draft and refused to play for the Bears. Stranger things have happened in the world of sports though.
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