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If athletes don’t have agents, it can make things tricky when they talk about contracts. This happened with Lamar Jackson and Roquan Smith from the Baltimore Ravens.
Both of them are now top earners.
Jackson and Smith had to go through a lot of back-and-forth talks. Jackson took over a year to sort things out with the Ravens, while Smith even asked for a trade before joining Baltimore. When players handle negotiations themselves, it can get personal and sometimes damage relationships. The Chicago Bears should learn from their experience with Smith since their new key player also doesn’t have an agent.
But it seems like the Bears haven’t learned much. Reports say there’s trouble between Chicago and their rookie quarterback Caleb Williams about his contract.
Williams was picked first in this year’s NFL Draft but hasn’t signed yet. He said he’s not dealing with money talks, but the team says otherwise. “I’m not handling” financial discussions, Williams told Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. Meanwhile, the Bears claim they’re only negotiating with him directly.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Bears reported to the league that they’ve only spoken with Williams about his contract. By rule, unless he gets an NFLPA-certified agent, that’s how it must stay.
So if Williams isn’t involved in these talks, who is? Is Chicago being misled by its new star? Did he slip up and reveal something he shouldn’t have? Or is there more to this story?
Whatever’s going on, something feels off. Watching how this unfolds will be interesting as more details come out in the next few days or weeks.
