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Chicago’s move to trade Justin Fields for, basically, whatever they could get for him suggests they’ll be taking a quarterback with the first overall pick in 2024. But which quarterback will they take?
Presumably, it will be Caleb Williams. Presumably, Williams has decided not to resist playing for the Bears. Presumably, he’s willing to submit to the “honor and privilege” that comes from being told where his NFL career will begin. Even if it’s possibly not an ideal destination for him.
Three times in the past 41 years, a first overall pick has made a power play. In 1983, John Elway managed to get the Colts to draft him and trade him. In 1986, Bo Jackson told the Buccaneers that, if they draft him with the No. 1 overall pick, he’ll play baseball. (They did, and he did.) In 2004, Eli Manning (with an assist from Archie) got the Chargers to select him and then trade him to the Giants.
More top prospects should use their power. Especially as all of them arrive in the NFL with NIL money in the bank. Why not provide the NFL with a list of teams a given player will play for, with a threat/promise to sit out the season? (There’s also an argument to be made that a player who accepts no financial benefits from the NFL or hires an agent could go back to college football, if he still has remaining eligibility.)
For quarterbacks, the first NFL destination can be critical to the player’s long-term success. Dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things. And they tend to stay dysfunctional. That stink can attach itself to the player and infect his prospects and perception.
If Williams has considered all teams and decided that the Bears are his best destination, great. If he has considered all teams and decided he’d rather play somewhere else, why shouldn’t he try to do it?
Yes, the media (but not us) would criticize him for doing it. Fans would get big mad. Regardless, players have far more power than they realize. And they’re the ones who have to live with the aftermath of landing in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/caleb-williams-bears-153306708.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-03-18 15:33:06
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