Bears GM discusses if he considered trading Caleb Williams pick

It sounds like Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles never seriously considered trading the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft that the club used to land USC Trojans star quarterback Caleb Williams last Thursday night. 

"I don't think I ever allowed it to get crazy," Poles said during a Wednesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" about the Bears engaging in pre-draft trade talks, as shared by Alex Shapiro of NBC Sports Chicago. 

The Bears began March 2023 holding the rights to the first pick of last year's player-selection process but then sold that asset at a high price to the Carolina Panthers. Carolina finishing this past season with the league's worst record gave the Bears the opportunity to get Williams, and it became clear after Chicago traded signal-caller Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round draft pick in March that the club had already decided against trading out of the first selection for a second consecutive year. 

Even before the Bears officially drafted Williams, Poles suggested last week that the rookie won the front office and veteran players over during his top-30 visit with the team in early April. Multiple members of the NFL community had voiced concerns about Williams' personality, and some said as recently as last week that Chicago should either draft LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels at No. 1 or trade with the Washington Commanders to get Daniels via the second pick. 

While speaking with McAfee, Poles seemed to have no regrets about taking Williams and letting Daniels go to the Commanders.

"By the time we got to the point where we felt comfortable (picking Williams), I wasn't even going to take those calls anymore, or even, you know, listen to what it was going to be, because I knew this was the right move for us," Poles added about potentially moving off the first pick before last Thursday. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook continued to list Williams as the betting favorite at +200 odds to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for the upcoming season. Also on Wednesday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said that he believes the 2024 Bears "can win nine or 10 games just with solid play from Williams."