Ben Johnson was responding to reports that Caleb Williams did not want to be drafted by the Bears.
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| Caleb Williams (18) of the Chicago Bears warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Jan. 5, 2025. Patrick McDermott/Getty Images |
Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wants to change the narrative around the quarterback position on his team.
Media reports surfaced last week that Caleb Williams’s family did not want him to be drafted by the Bears in 2024, citing the team’s poor track record with quarterbacks.
“It’s come to my attention that the quarterback’s been out in the media over the last week,” Johnson said to preface remarks at a press conference Wednesday.
“Just to get out in front of that a little bit, I just [want] 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 focusing on getting a little better every day.”
“I don’t want my son playing for the Bears,” Williams’ father Carl reportedly told multiple agents in the leadup to the draft, calling it “the place quarterbacks go to die.” Caleb wanted to go to the Minnesota Vikings, but an intra-division trade is very unlikely, and the Bears were adamant about drafting him.
Williams and his family were reportedly ready to take drastic measures. Carl Williams spoke with Archie Manning, who orchestrated his son Eli’s holdout against being picked by the San Diego Chargers in 2004. He also went as far as talking to lawyers about circumventing the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement and letting Caleb join the United Football League so that he could become an unrestricted free agent and pick which team he went to. They also considered publicly trashing both the team and the city.
The Williams’ concerns about Chicago being a quarterback graveyard were well-founded in recent team history. After Jay Cutler retired in 2017, the Bears drafted Mitchell Trubisky out of North Carolina with the second overall pick in the 2017 Draft. Trubisky played four seasons with the team, amassing a 29-21 record and leading the Bears to wild-card appearances in 2018 and 2020. But his play was marred by inconsistency, and he was benched for Nick Foles in the middle of the 2020 season.
The Bears drafted Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 season. Fields flashed potential, but he never had a winning record in three seasons with the team. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March 2024.
Since 2000, the Bears have had 32 different players start at least one game for the team. There have been 19 since 2010, even with Jay Cutler getting the majority of starts from 2010 to 2015.
In the press conference, Johnson confirmed that he had discussed the media reports with Williams, but stressed that they are both “looking forward to turning the page” and being in the present.
But the first-year head coach also saw an opportunity from them.
“I love it,” he said. “I love the opportunity to come on in and change that narrative. That’s where great stories are written, and so we’re looking to write a new chapter here, 2025 Chicago Bears, and looking forward to the future.”
