ESPN dropped an in-depth report from Seth Wickersham offering details from his new book. In it, he covers the lives and careers of some of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks, as well as two of the most prominent youngsters to enter the league in years: Caleb Williams and Drake Maye. The former was the focus of the report, offering damning details of how Carl Williams, Caleb’s father, did everything in his power to circumvent the NFL rules to keep his son away from the Chicago Bears.
He considered a power play similar to what John Elway and Eli Manning pulled in 1983 and 2004. Lawyers and agents were consulted. Williams even considered a nuclear option that would’ve caused a media firestorm.
“I don’t want my son playing for the Bears,” Williams told several agents in 2024.
Looking for a way around the league’s collective bargaining agreement, Carl Williams spoke with Archie Manning, who helped Eli Manning assert a measure of control over his eventual team in 2004. He also met with labor lawyers and agents — and even considered whether his son could sign with the United Football League and become an unrestricted NFL free agent in 2025 to be able to pick a team. In addition to the draft process, Carl Williams vented about the rookie wage scale, which could lock his son into the team that drafted him for up to eight years. He calculated hundreds of millions of lost market-value income.
“The rookie cap is just unconstitutional,” Carl Williams told Wickersham, later adding that the CBA is the “worst piece of s— I’ve ever read. It’s the worst in sports history.”
The last time a quarterback of Williams’ caliber spurned the NFL for a different pro league was 1984. Steve Young went to the United States Football League, lured by a strong contract offer and a more favorable coaching setup. Williams would’ve gotten neither of those things in the United Football League. It would’ve been nothing more than a power play by sacrificing a year of his pro career so he could choose his own team in 2025. The problem is that such a tactic wouldn’t have worked.
Carl Williams learned a lesson the NFL did years ago.
Even if Caleb had chosen to go to the UFL, the Bears would still have the rights to him. That meant no other team could acquire the quarterback without trading for him. Williams wouldn’t have become a free agent. He would’ve been re-entered in the NFL draft. While he still may have gone #1 overall this year, it would’ve been to the Tennessee Titans instead. It would’ve been the same mess and robbed the young quarterback of millions of dollars by starting his career late.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
The NFL implemented this after what happened with Bo Jackson in 1986. He refused to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after they sabotaged his ability to play baseball at Auburn. Carl Williams was ready to take the plunge anyway, but Caleb knew how bad it would be if he did that for himself and his father. After speaking with Ryan Poles, he became convinced he could change the fortunes of the Bears franchise. Williams came to Chicago, endured a painful rookie year, but played well and now has an excellent setup around him.
If things go as hoped, this story will become one of modern Bears history’s greatest pieces of lore.