With the release of the Chicago Bears' 2025 schedule, ESPN dropped a bold prediction about Caleb Williams' second season in the league.

With Williams being the clear-cut top pick coming out of USC, Carl told several agents in 2024 he didn’t want his son to play for the Bears, who had the No. 1 pick. Part of his efforts to avoid Chicago included consulting Archie Manning, father of Eli Manning, who helped orchestrate Eli’s trade from the San Diego Chargers to the New York Giants.

According to ESPN's Seth Wickersham in his new book "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback", Williams father Carl described Chicago as "the place quarterbacks go to die" while Caleb Williams told his inner-circle before the draft "I don't think I can do it with [former Bears offensive coordinator Shane] Waldron."