Caleb Williams is clearing the air.
On Thursday’s episode of “The Herd,” host Colin Cowherd said that the USC quarterback, and presumptive top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, does not want to end up on the Bears, who own the No. 1 pick.
“I do think it’s possible that Washington trades up and Chicago allows Washington to trade up because Caleb and his group do not want to go to Chicago,” Cowherd said.
Well, apparently word got back to the Williams camp, who pushed back against that report.
On Friday’s show, Cowherd discussed what the QB’s group said about his initial Bears reporting.
“I got a call yesterday from the Caleb Williams camp,” Cowherd said Friday. “And they went, ‘Whoa, whoa whoa. Colin, we don’t want to be painted as anti-Chicago. And we don’t want to be painted as anti-Bear.’
“And they made it clear to me that they said ‘Listen, we don’t want to go to a city that doesn’t care. Chicago cares. They’re big, loud, they’re passionate. They fire coaches all the time. They care. We don’t want to go to some sun belt place that you tarp off the upper deck.'”
However, Cowherd seemed to double down on his original report, going on 670 The Score in Chicago on Friday, and the FS1 host reiterated that Williams does not want to go to the Bears.
“He doesn’t want to pull an Elway. If they draft him, he’s going to go,” Cowherd said.
John Elway was famously taken by the Colts first overall in the 1983 NFL Draft, but refused to play for the club, even threatening to join the Yankees full-time instead of playing for the then-Baltimore franchise.
Despite being picked by the Colts, Elway was eventually dealt to the Broncos, with whom he began a legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
While Williams does not have baseball to fall back on, the Bears are indeed in an interesting position.
They still have quarterback Justin Fields — the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft — rostered, which has left them with lingering questions about his future.
He’s coming off a season in which he threw a career-best 2,562 yards to go along with 16 touchdowns and 657 rushing yards.
But Fields, who at times has flashed the talented arm and legs he used at Ohio State, largely hasn’t lived up to the first-round hype in his first three seasons as the Bears finished at 7-10 in 2023.
But if Chicago is going to trade the incumbent signal-caller, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported its in the team’s best interest to get a deal done before March, when the league’s year begins.
The Bears have plenty of work between now and April’s draft, and it remains to be seen who will be starting under center in Week 1 in September.