The Caleb Williams Controversy: What if the Chicago Bears had traded the QB to Minnesota on Draft Night, 2024?

Nerve-wracking stuff for Bears Nation’s Caleb truthers, but it might’ve worked out okay for the Monsters of the Midway.

It’s alternate universe time, y’all.

The Williams Trade

We’re looking at an in-division deal for a quarterback that was (and, to some, is still) considered generational, so the Vikings would’ve had to offer Chicago a ridiculous haul, which might’ve looked a little something like this:

MIN receives:

• Chicago’s 2024 first-round draft pick (#1)

CHI receives:

• Minnesota’s 2024 first-round draft pick (#10)

• Minnesota’s 2024 first-round draft pick (#17, via JAC)

• Minnesota’s 2024 sixth-round draft pick (#177)

• Minnesota’s 2025 first-round draft pick

• Minnesota’s 2026 second-round draft pick

• WR Jordan Addison

With their newly-acquired 2024 first rounders, the Bears could have selected TE Brock Bowers at the ten-spot, then Bo Nix at 17. (Wouldn’t a Nix/Justin Fields training camp QB battle have been fun?) They then could have used the extra 2025 first-rounder to snatch up, say, DE James Pearce Jr. or LB Jihaad Campbell.

Or Poles could have combined his two 2025 firsts (#10 and #24), some future mid-round draft capital, and a logical player, and sent the whole mess to Cleveland for their 2025 first-rounder (#2), which would have allowed Chicago to grab Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter.

Here’s the theoretical total player package:

• Jordan Addison

• Abdul Carter -or- Travis Hunter

• Brock Bowers

• Bo Nix

…with a future first and second thrown in for good measure.

So that kinda works.

Meanwhile, Up In Minnesota...

O’Connell has a far superior offensive mind than Chicago’s 2024 offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, and he also has one Justin Jefferson on his roster, and the '24 Vikes had one hell of an offensive line—their starting QB, Kirk Cousins was sacked 28 times in 2024, as opposed to Caleb’s 68—so the USC product's rookie year would have looked considerably better than what we saw in Chicago.

The loss of the picks would hurt Minny, for sure, but if O’Connell felt Williams could evolve into Patrick Mahomes in the his system, he’d probably be perfectly content with the deal.

The Butterfly Effect

This transactions potentially would have altered quarterback situations throughout the NFL:

• Sam Darnold would have had his breakout season anywhere other than Minnesota, and thus would likely have not signed with Seattle back in March.

• No Darnold in Seattle means Geno Smith would likely still be wearing a Seahawks uni.

• Originally chosen by the Vikes with the tenth pick of the 2024 Draft, QB J.J. McCarthy might have slid to the Denver Broncos at #12—or out of the first-round altogether.

• And best of all, eternally smug Bear-killer and exotic drug enthusiast Aaron Rodgers would’ve still been mediocre as hell in New York.

Fascinating stuff. We should visit this alternative universe more often.