Bears Signing Helped Caleb Williams Dodge a Bullet as Father’s Comment Cause Uproar in NFL

After admitting that he is extremely excited to work with Ben Johnson, other coaches, and new teammates, Caleb Williams is pulling up hard for the upcoming season. But while the 2025 NFL season is on the way, a new book on Caleb Williams has dropped a major update on the Bears’ QB. It is such a jaw-dropping update that only pro football experts know its repercussions. 

ESPN’s Seth Wickersham released a book recently, named ‘American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback’. It’s a biography of the 2024 NFL draft’s 1st overall pick, Caleb Williams. In that book, the ESPN reporter has revealed many things about Caleb. But one of the shocking ones was QB’s dad’s plan for him before the 2024 NFL draft. Mike Florio of NBC Sports also shed light on that scary decision Caleb Williams had in his mind, which could have affected his football career. 

Mike Florio explained the incident in Caleb’s biography, saying, “I give his dad a ton of credit for at least exploring all possibilities. He did it in two ways. One, before the draft, what can we do to avoid this process? What can we do? Looked into, according to Seth’s book, going to the UFL for a year.” Yes, Caleb’s dad, Carl Williams, did not want his son to land with the Chicago Bears. Seth Wickersham also exposed Carl Williams’ thoughts on the Bears organisation as: “Chicago is the place quarterbacks go to die.”

And along with that, the Bears’ GM, Ryan Poles, also said to Caleb, “We’re drafting you no matter what.” That also put pressure on Caleb and his father. That’s why Carl wanted to get Caleb into the United Football League for one year. But you must be thinking, what’s wrong with getting into UFL, right? Mike Florio has given a good explanation on this. 

Carl Williams’ plan was to let him play in the UFL for a year, and then join the NFL as an undrafted free agent. But here is the catch. Florio explained, “That doesn’t work because if you get drafted, the team holds your rights until the next draft. And if you get drafted again, they hold your rights until the next year. You’d have to sit out two years of the NFL to enter as an undrafted free agent. And then you’d be subject to the pool of wages available to undrafted free agents, which means you won’t make much.” But hold on, that’s not all he said. There were bullets Caleb had dodged than just one or two. 

Mike Florio also added, “Then you’ve got four years you’re unrestricted. And then you still have to deal with the franchise tag. So, it’s a long road that doesn’t pay nearly as much as being the number one overall pick, but they at least explored it.” Imagine Caleb going into UFL, do you think he would have gotten the level of success, publicity, and most importantly, a massive contract? Currently, he has signed a four-year, $39,486,058 contract, which could have been under $5 million or $4 million if Carl Williams had become a reality. But what, this was not the only possibility Carl Williams had explored. 

Caleb Williams’ father’s business opportunity for his son caused havoc in the NFL 

You know, after the Chicago Bears drafted him, the franchise was shocked to hear the demand from Carl and Caleb Williams. The No.1 overall draft pick had demanded equity in the Bears organization when he was drafted. How does that sound, huh? But that’s true. Mike Florio had reported this news after everyone’s reactions were, “That’s ridiculous,” “That’s fake,” “That’s impossible,” “That doesn’t happen,” “We know that.” 

The NFL analyst remembered that incident and explained what happened after Carl Williams’  equity demand. Florio said, “The creative tax ideas and strategies he (Carl) was pitching to the Bears, because Carl basically represents Caleb. Caleb doesn’t have a traditional agent. Set this up as an LLC. Pay him as an LLC. Try to avoid taxes. Bears wouldn’t do it. Treat the pay as a forgivable loan. So, he doesn’t have to pay taxes until the loan is forgiven at some point down the road. Tried that. They wouldn’t do it.” Later, the $6.3 billion worth Chicago Bears rejected that offer, but didn’t let any scar be there as any father could do the same for his son’s development and a better future like Michael Jordan‘s mom did. 

Michael Jordan’s mom had made a great deal with Nike, where she asked for commission from every shoe sold in the market. Everybody knows this story, which made Michael Jordan the first billionaire sports person. That’s the type of motivation any parents have for their child. And that’s what Carl Williams did. It doesn’t matter that he couldn’t get equity, but it’s 100% sure that Caleb Williams literally dodged bullets by not going to UFL.