Caleb Williams is entering his second NFL season with the Chicago Bears after being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
In his rookie season, Williams showed flashes of franchise quarterback potential. However, there are a lot of questions surrounding him heading into the 2025 season.
Throughout the course of the NFL offseason, Williams has struggled at times. His struggles have given the Bears potential reason to be concerned. Should he start off the upcoming year slowly, could Chicago consider a shocking move?
How about benching Williams in favor of backup quarterback Tyson Bagent?
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Recently, the Bears invested into Bagent with a two-year, $10 million contract. Ben Johnson, the team’s first-year head coach, has been very vocal about how much he likes the young signal caller.
Now, a Chicago insider has hinted at Williams potentially being benched.
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Dan Wiederer of The Athletic made an appearance on 670 The Score on Monday. During that appearance, he suggested that Williams may not have a very long leash.
“I don’t think this head coach is just going to sit around on his hands and go, ‘You know, like we’re just going to give Caleb forever to meet and reach the checkpoints that we’ve set out for him.’ And so because you now have a QB2 that everyone in the building believes in and continues to show significant progress from where he was two plus years ago when he walked in this building to now–that conversation isn’t one that Chicago should be scared of,” Wiederer said.
“You should feel great about the things that Tyson Bagent has done to put himself in position to be a guy that can either fill in in case of emergency or be an answer for you if you need. A temporary switch of lanes here as you go.”
While he isn’t coming out and saying point blank that the Bears could bench Williams, he’s suggesting it as an option.
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If the 2025 season doesn’t start strong for Williams, Chicago could consider a change. Johnson is looking to win. The Bears want to win.
More than likely, this scenario won’t end up becoming a reality. However, it’s something to keep in mind as the season progresses.
Hopefully for Chicago, Williams is able to come out and prove that he’s capable of being the team’s long-term franchise quarterback. If that doesn’t happen, things could get very interesting for the Bears.
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