That will be his own problem of his own making.
If the Bears take Williams, pretty sure that means they’ll be moving on from Fields.
Nobody is forcing this guy to go into the NFL. If he decides to enter the draft, this is the process he signed up for.
IMO, as a Bears fan, I hope the Bears don’t touch him. I hope they take the WR from Ohio State, Marvin Harrison Jr., and then take the best OL available with their other number 1.
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It is a business where one injury and you are done. He has the right to make business decisions.
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The NFL doesn’t work that way. He’s extremely fortunate that anyone is drafting him. He’s playing a GAME at the end of the day. A little game with a leather ball that we pump money into because it’s entertainment. The worst run organization and a multi-million dollar contract sounds a lot better than the $60,000 out of college job he’d be getting if he wasn’t a gifted athlete.
People are free to do as they choose, it’s just ungrateful and shows a lack of self awareness
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I get it that is off putting for many. It does reek of entitlement. But let’s all be honest if this was the real world and Williams was utilizing his leverage in a job interview to get himself the best compensation package, job title, etc. This would be applauded as being good at business.
That’s all this is business. Business is not designed to make others feel good about themselves.
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I understand what he is doing and that’s fine for him but after wanting a stake in ownership and this, it seems like he would be a headache for an organization. I would just look at another player.
Come now… that’s not my argument and I know you know better.
And that process has options for him to leverage his talent in trying to secure a better situation for himself including opting out of draft, demanding a trade, sitting out the season etc and it doesn’t make him a bad egg for doing so. John Elway, Peyton and Eli Manning, Kobe Bryant, Bo Jackson, Dominique Wilkins, Rich Gannon, Shaq and many others all used what options they had to try their best to avoid playing for certain organizations and no one thinks bad of them for doing so.
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I think you mean, he’s extremely talented and skilled having worked immensely hard for the majority of his life to have the value and position he does now. FTFY.
The issue is y’all seem to think that he played and won the lottery by just waking up one day to be the high level player and talent he is all by happenstance. Him ensuring that the years of investment and sacrifice he, his family and others have put into him is better protected does not make him “ungrateful” or not self-aware. It’s the exact opposite in my perspective. The list of sporting legends who had to make demands for their career and who are lauded for it is too long for y’all to be acting otherwise.
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He should probably suck more if he wants to be drafted by a better organization. #1 picks aren’t usually going to a contender.
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Agreed. Imagine if Stroud had a similar mindset as Williams, the Texans wouldn’t be in the playoffs today featuring a rookie QB.
Then again, Williams might not want to play in the frozen tundra that is Chicago. After all, he’s been playing in sunny So. Cal for the past few years, not to mention the Bears organization is poorly managed.
This negotiation routinely happens with baseball.
And boy, I wish the Lions hadn’t drafted Andre.
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I was thinking exactly that in this thread. If only Andre had done something similar and gone to a better organization then his career as a player may have been significantly better.
I’m in the military. I get forced to go places all the time. Some of them really suck, too! It is the nature of the beast when you sign that contract. The NFL is the same.
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Not going to disagree with that. He’s definitely worked hard to be where he’s at. However, he can still continue to do so at the Bears, Jaguars, Bills, Texans, etc. Wherever he goes, he can still have a long and successful career. I think that having the chance (as a result of your work) to go and play sports professionally is still something to be grateful for. I mean he’s talented isn’t he? So that talent will follow him wherever he goes and he’ll have the same chance to showcase his ability at his new franchise. The best will succeed. I just think it’s something to be proud of, getting selected by a professional football team regardless of who it is.
I mean… the NFL is not the military. Also, he doesn’t sign a contract with the NFL. He’ll be signing a contract with a NFL team and has options as to which one it’ll be. Nothing wrong with him evaluating and exercising those options if he so chooses.
When Williams mentioned a % of ownership earlier in the year it was troubling.
Can we win a few games at QB before ownership demands ?
That even a tiny % of ownership uses your entire salary cap on 1 player made them sound ridiculous.
If he wants to chance going #1 overall to pick his spot it’s not troubling or ridiculous.
Eli Manning & others did similar.
That Caleb is from DC and they pick #2 seems relevant.
OT
Kliff Kingsbury may get the OC job where Williams ends up.
They got tight w Kliff at USC this season & Williams likes his offense.
Kliff not great as Cardinals as HC but his offense was usually good.
They missed on tons of high picks. Two LBs in 1st, etc.
Getting better behind an awful OL his entire career BUT its contract soon & time for a restart.
Some of his purported “demands” do push the envelope, but as in any negotiation with super-rich NFL owners, if you don’t ask, you’re not going to get it. Players always trying to get more is tempered by owners always wanting to pay less - that’s just the game.
It does make me roll my eyes when a college kid overplays his hand, but he’s almost certainly following someone’s advice. Every year, we hear about another “generational talent,” and these guys all think they’re IT. Dude isn’t going to go back to college and risk an injury to avoid playing for the Bears - he just isn’t. It’s all talk.
Gee, why wouldn’t (cough Mitch Trubisky cough) someone (cough Justin Fields cough) want to play for da’Bears…
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True. That is part of my point. They don’t protect and develop QBs. Kinda like the bengals of old.
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This relies on the premise that all 32 NFL teams are the same. They are not and we all know that. A poorly run organization can take years to work itself out to improve and become a championship caliber organization and team. Him being reluctant to work for a sub-par organization and evaluating his options and being willing to exercise them to avoid the Bears org does not make him ungrateful.