Last offseason, the Minnesota Vikings turned heads with a presence at the USC pro day. Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown attended the session where now-Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams was the main attraction.
Just over one year later, it appears that Williams indeed had an affinity for the Vikings.
ESPN published excerpts from Seth Wickersham’s book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback” on May 15. It details Williams’ desire to avoid the Bears and join the Vikings.
“I need to go to the Vikings,” Williams told his father, Carl, following an uneven final collegiate season and meeting head coach Kevin O’Connell at the 2024 combine. Carl Williams was on board, but the duo faced one realistic option with the Bears unwavering and a trade unlikely.
Their “one option” was to “publicly attack” the Bears and Chicago.
That is what John Elway and his father, Jack, did to force the then-Baltimore Colts’ hand in 1983. Elway went to the Denver Broncos instead, via a trade.
Elway had a career in Major League Baseball to fall back on. Williams’ camp, specifically his father, went so far as to explore a path to unrestricted free agency via the United Football League.
“I wasn’t ready to nuke the city,” Williams said, per Wickersham.
The soonest Williams can hit unrestricted free agency is in 2028, when his four-year, $39.5 million contract expires. However, his fifth-year option and franchise tags bump that to 2032.
Vikings May Have Avoided Headache With Caleb Williams
Williams was concerned for his father, who also reached out to Archie Manning and lawyers about ways to tip the scales.
The Bears ended up selecting him, as many speculated and they planned on for months beforehand, while the Vikings selected J.J. McCarthy, trading with the New York Jets from No. 11 to No. 10 to do so.
Williams had an uneven rookie season, with O’Connell helping uplift the Bears QB.
McCarthy did not have a rookie season at all.
He missed the entire 2024 campaign with a torn meniscus suffered in the preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders.
McCarthy has garnered praise from teammates and coaches before he was injured, throughout his rehabilitation, and since he has returned to the practice field. Injuries happen to every player, regardless of where they are drafted.
However, the Vikings can take solace they avoided the media frenzy the Bears have endured.
Kevin O’Connell Disproving Self-Given Nickname
It will be up to O’Connell, who can add yet another feather to his QB Whisperer cap, to get the most out of McCarthy and show just why Williams felt the “need” to land with the Vikings.
Notably, though, the head coach’s propensity for speaking positivity unto QBs, regardless of which team they play for, flies in the face of his admitted label as a “quarterback killer” around the team’s facilities.
“For a couple years I’ve been kind of known as a quarterback killer when it comes to the draft in Eagan because the feeling that everybody – that I feel from our fan base is when we get this next guy, he’s going to be the guy,” O’Connell said during a “Faith & Life” conference in April 2024.
“I feel it. I know you guys all feel it. So I have had to, in a lot of ways fight off some mistakes from being made. Mainly because the evaluation process I go through.”
I asked Kevin O’Connell what he’d say to a Vikings fan who asked to be sold on JJ McCarthy. Awesome answer on what JJ does well.
“I’m really confident and really excited to see him hit the ground running. He’s had a great offseason.”
Great This Is Football drops tonight.
McCarthy, O’Connell, and the Vikings will travel to visit Williams and the Bears on Monday Night Football to open the 2025 regular season.
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