(Audacy) The Bears finally traded quarterback Justin Fields over the weekend, sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a sixth-round pick in 2025 that can elevate to a fourth-round pick based on playing time. Moving Fields officially cleared the way for the Bears to select USC quarterback Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft in late April.
Former Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long joined the Audacy original podcast Take the North and explained why he’s so optimistic about the Bears’ future with Williams slated to become the new quarterback in Chicago.
“The irony of you saying ‘When he gets his feet on the ground,’ the thing I love about his game is that he bucks trends. He says ‘Screw your rules. You can’t put me in a box. I’m going to play the game how I want to play it,’” Long said (19:30 in player above). “More often than not, his feet are off the ground when he’s making these plays throwing the football. I love that.”
Long mentioned that he was a player who marched to the beat of a different drum himself, and he sees that trait in Williams, who has a unique skill set.
“This guy Caleb Williams jumps off the page to me," Long said. "Not only from a throwing perspective but a creativity perspective. He makes the game look like art, and when you watch a guy where you can’t quite – he has a je ne sais quoi about his game. He’s got it.”
There was some debate in Chicago over whether the Bears should trade Fields to move forward with Williams. Long is a big believer in the choice that the Bears made and the player whom they're ready to add.
“What more do you want me to tell you?"Long said. "You can watch 30 minutes of highlights of the guy and some people aren’t convinced, but he gives me, in my opinion, he gives the Bears the best chance moving forward at the quarterback position. And when you watch the Super Bowl, when you watch these playoffs, it’s the quarterbacks that have a je ne sais quoi that tend to win these Super Bowls.”
Of course, the quarterback atop the NFL mountain right now is Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. Long got a chance to see Mahomes firsthand when he came out of retirement to join the Chiefs in 2021.
“You need a quarterback that gives you instead of fear, he gives you faith and hope," Long said. "It’s not a guy that you can win with, it’s a guy that you can win because of. I think that’s Caleb Williams. He is somebody that you’re going to love. If you don’t know him, if you haven’t watched the film of him, just wait.”
While comparing Williams and Mahomes would be a bit premature, it isn't hard to see that type of potential in Williams.
There's always going to be some skepticism, but Long thinks this may be the start of a new dawn in Chicago.
“I understand people really like to beat themselves up and people really enjoy this thing," Long said. "And there are a ton of franchises in all sports that kind of adopted this ‘Woe is me,’ but they really enjoy it. They kind of get off to beating themselves up a little bit. I feel like we can be guilty of that as Bears fans.
“It’s time to go outside, put your eyeballs directly into the sun, and just try to manifest some good stuff. I really think it’s coming for us, Bears fans. The defense looks great. Eberflus has his finger on the pulse of this team. And when this guy walks in the building and turns heads Day 1, it’s going to be obvious to the guys on the team and they’re going to buy in.”