At one point, it looked like Kliff Kingsbury’s return to the NFL was going to come with the Las Vegas Raiders as their offensive coordinator under Antonio Pierce. Things changed quickly, though, with Kingsbury backing out of the search and ultimately ending up with the Washington Commanders.
That decision led to some speculation about the Commanders’ plans for the NFL Draft. They currently hold the No. 2 overall pick behind the Chicago Bears, who could be trending toward drafting Caleb Williams with the top selection. Considering the Bears still have Justin Fields, there could still be a chance they trade the pick – perhaps to Washington.
However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said that wasn’t necessarily a factor in Kingsbury’s decision. It came down to the length of his contract.
“It’s basically a case where Vegas didn’t want to guarantee him three years, and that’s what most assistants have gotten,” Schefter said on ESPN 1000’s Waddle and Silvy in Chicago. “There was a situation where Washington was able to guarantee him three years, just like most assistant coaches are.
“Nothing unusual. The unusual part was that Vegas wasn’t doing that. That was the unusual part. And when that happened, it freed him up to go to Washington.”
The connection to Williams comes from this past season at USC. Kliff Kingsbury served as a senior analyst and quarterbacks coach after the Arizona Cardinals fired him as head coach, and he had a front-row seat to Williams’ junior season. He then interviewed for the Bears’ offensive coordinator job that ultimately went to Shane Waldron, leading some to wonder if Kingsbury could reunite with Williams in the NFL.
Of course, Williams has a connection to the Commanders beyond their new offensive coordinator. He’s a D.C. native and starred at Gonzaga before committing to Oklahoma and ultimately transferring to USC. That further fueled the speculation that Washington could trade up with Chicago to take Williams and bring him closer to home.
However, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. wondered if the gap between the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and the other top quarterbacks is big enough to warrant such a move.
“Personally, I don’t think that gap’s enough right now,” Kiper said. “If Caleb Williams would’ve played this year like he did in 2022, I’d have said, ‘Definitely. Do what you’ve gotta do to get up there.’ But really from the Notre Dame game on, he didn’t. And that was kind of inexplicable, as well, why he didn’t perform at a higher level.”
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