Chicago Bears Meet With Caleb Williams Ahead Of NFL Draft

The Chicago Bears met with USC quarterback Caleb Williams this week, bringing him to team facilities for discussion and potential medical testing. Williams is presumed to be the first overall pick in this year’s draft, and Chicago has cleared the way to make him its new franchise quarterback.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is still guarding team strategy and simply said that the team was looking forward to meeting with him Wednesday.

“We’ll just continue on with some of the installs that we installed there in the pro day. We’ll keep continuing on that journey, teaching him more of the offense and then having him give it back to us and see where he is that way,” Eberflus said. “He’s been great that way. Again, spend some more time visiting with him. He’ll get a chance to spend some more time with the offensive staff that wasn’t there at the pro day. It’s going to be good.”

Though the Bears still have the world at their disposal with the first overall pick, it’s abundantly clear that Williams is the first name on the team’s big board. After months of speculation, Chicago nearly ensured this when the team traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, parting ways with the young passer after just three seasons.

“Those decisions will continue to come with success,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said after making the trade. “Again, you get to a point where a quarterback starts taking up a lot of cap space or you have a better team that does like, you can’t keep everybody.”

In addition to likely drafting Williams, the Bears have taken several steps to improve ahead of the 2024 season. In two flashy moves, Chicago drastically improved its offensive outlook by acquiring wide receiver Keenan Allen in a trade and signing running back D’Andre Swift to a three-year deal. The team seems poised to begin anew after five seasons without a winning record.