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Even though the Caleb Williams was expected to be the No. 1 pick to the Chicago Bears seemingly from the time they secured that selection, it didn’t prevent the USC star from being surprised when the Justin Fields trade went down.
Appearing on The Pivot Podcast (starts at 40:00 mark), Williams explained he was in his car driving to a business meeting when his “phone explodes” with messages about the deal and it was an “interesting” feeling “because it was just so unexpected” at that point.
Fields was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers on March 16 in exchange for a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick that could become a fourth-rounder based on playing time.
There was some speculation the Bears might look to keep Fields and draft Williams, in part because they didn’t seem to be getting the types of trade offers for Fields they were anticipating.
That scenario would have been difficult to sell, particularly to Fields. The 25-year-old is not without flaws, but he’s played well enough to at least compete for a starting job in 2024.
If the Bears were going to draft Williams, there’s no reason to keep him on the bench as a rookie. The 2022 Heisman winner said he told a couple of people “we know where their [the Bears’] mind and heart is at in this instance” after the Fields trade went down.
Fields was coming off the best season of his career in 2023. He threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and a 61.4 completion percentage, while adding 657 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Williams didn’t take his official top-30 visit with the Bears until April 3. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported it was “likely” going to be his only visit with a club, which seems to indicate both sides know what will happen with the top pick on draft night.
Once the Bears knew Williams was going to be their pick, trading Fields was the best thing they could do for everyone. It gives them a clean break from a former first-round pick who played well at times, but didn’t offer the same ceiling as the player they plan to draft.
Fields gets a fresh start with the Steelers and the opportunity to compete with Russell Wilson to be a starting quarterback in 2024.
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