The Chicago Bears have high hopes for rookie quarterback and overall no. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams. To match their hopes and expectations, they’ve built a nice little offensive crew around him to help facilitate his success.
They acquired wide receiver Keenan Allen in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers a month prior to April’s NFL draft. They also signed free agent running back D’Andre Swift, free agent tight end Gerald Everett and, most recently, they re-signed tight end Marcedes Lewis. In the draft, they selected wide receiver Rome Odunze with their second first-round pick (no. 9 overall).
And that whole new crew will be joining last season’s top pass-catching assets, wide receiver DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet.
But is that talented foundation assembled around the blue chip QB prospect from USC already showing signs of cracking?
Maybe so.
At the very least, it may prove to be considerably more temporary than previously thought.
Keenan Allen, Already Unhappy?
Allen, who turned 32 in April, is on the last year of the contract Chicago inherited from the Chargers and there are signs that maybe the veteran pass catcher might already be frustrated by working with a rookie quarterback.
A recent video clip from the Bears’ OTAs captures Allen uttering a disgruntled “Hell naw” as Williams throws him a very interceptable pass that floats a little too high and long. Many have speculated that there’s more than a bit of frustration from the star receiver after being accustomed to catching passes from veteran signal caller Justin Herbert in Los Angeles.
If there are frustrations with Williams, though, Allen hasn’t expressed any in public. Neither has he shown any frustration or angst regarding his contract situation or over the possibility of a contract extension.
“I’m going to play as long as I can,” Allen told Patrick Finley of The Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. “As far as an extension, I’m going to let the play speak for itself, and if they offer me something that I like, we’ll go from there.”
That ‘I can take it or leave it’ attitude shows his maturity as a player, but it may also show his indifference when it comes to remaining a Chicago Bear.
DJ Moore’s Issues with Caleb Williams, Contract Status
As for wide receiver DJ Moore, who most everyone views as the team’s no. 1 receiver? The 27-year-old has his own contract drama floating about.
Moore, a former Carolina Panther, came to the Bears in the blockbuster 2023 pre-draft trade that also resulted in Chicago getting the overall no. 1 draft slot this year and, subsequently, first dibs on Caleb Williams.
It’s no secret that the Bears would love to keep Moore around and realize that it will probably take a hefty sum to do so– maybe upwards of $30 million per season. The six-year veteran certainly earned his keep last season when he worked his way into becoming QB Justin Fields’ go-to ball catcher and top offensive threat.
His close relationship with Fields, however, does raise some questions about his ability to gel with new QB Williams.
This past February, Moore, who had long been championing the cause of keeping Fields in Chicago, publicly voiced his belief that Fields was better than all of the available quarterback options in the draft, including Williams, and that the team would be better off drafting a receiver with their overall no. 1 pick.
“I still don’t think they compare to Justin right now,” Moore said on NFL Total Access, when asked about the quarterbacks available in the 2024 draft.
“…We could add another receiver,” Moore replied, when asked about who Chicago could select over a new QB. “They got some real talented ones [in the draft]. I know Marvin (Harrison Jr.), so that’d be a choice of mine. But any of those guys that are the big names, I’ve seen and really liked.”
Was this a case of Moore being loyal to his guy at the time, for the sake of team unity? Maybe. Probably, actually. He’s since talked about his willingness to play and succeed with any quarterback taking snaps for Chicago.
But it can’t be a great morale builder for Williams to be working alongside a guy who was strongly campaigning to keep him out of Chicago just months prior.
Chicago Bears Face Uncertainty
So, as of right now, the Bears have a WR1 and a WR2 who may or may not even be around in a year or two and who may not have full confidence in their QB1. WR3, Odunze, meanwhile, is just entering into his rookie year and has yet to play one NFL snap.
Bears fans– and the Bears front office– will surely be looking on with bated breath.
