$39 Million QB Plotted Nuclear Option to Force Vikings Trade

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.