The most important person in free-agent recruiting isn’t a general manager, coach or teammate but, rather, whichever former President is pictured on a player’s legal tender of choice. In the NFL, money talks.
Quarterbacks, though, are part of the appeal. Stars draw players when the money is similar. Those with potential give incoming players reason to dream.
Put the Bears’ Caleb Williams in the latter category. Despite an uneven rookie season, Williams’ potential was enough to help sway Lions assistant Ben Johnson to Chicago to become the team’s head coach. Free agents the Bears signed this week were intrigued by Williams, too.
“We all know that there’s a lot of growth that has to happen to get him to where he needs to be,” general manager Ryan Poles said Thursday. “But that excitement in terms of what he can be obviously helps get other coaches and players excited to be here and work with him. And help get him to where he needs to be.”
Guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson didn’t have much of a say in the matter — they were traded to the Bears. But defensive linemen Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo, center Drew Dalman and tight end Durham Smythe all chose the Bears — and Williams — over other teams.
So did receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who had 45 catches for 506 yards for the Commanders last year. The Bears agreed to a one-year deal with the 5-foot-8 slot receiver, a source confirmed Thursday night. The 27-year-old will join his fourth team in as many years after spending his first four in Atlanta.
“You can’t win in this league without a great quarterback,” said Odeyingbo, whose Colts started a whopping seven different quarterbacks in his four years there. “To see his potential — obviously, a Heisman [Trophy] winner — and what I believe is a trajectory for him, I mean, I wanted to be a part of it.
“I believe that he’s going to be a championship quarterback in this league, and I want to be a part of that journey.”
Time will tell — Bears’ quarterbacks have flopped before — but Williams has the attention of Jarrett and Dalman, whose Falcons teams had five different starting quarterbacks in three years after former MVP Matt Ryan left.
“I think Caleb’s ceiling is super-high,” Jarrett said. “I’ve watched him from afar, admired him from afar since he’s been in college, and I’m excited to play with him. That definitely played a factor in me coming here, because I believe that he was the No. 1 pick for a reason and his best is obviously yet to come, being such a young player. When you have an up-and-down first year, it can motivate you to be better.”
Adding Dalman, who signed a three-year, $42 million deal that made him the league’s second-highest-paid center, will help.
“I know Drew and Caleb are looking to grow together,” Johnson said.
Dalman worked with rookie Michael Penix in the second half of last season and learned the value of trying to give the quarterback one fewer thing to worry about. The more Dalman and the Falcons offensive line could master the snap count and identify defensive fronts, the more time Penix had to focus on other aspects of his game.
“I’m really excited to learn from [Williams], as well as doing everything I can to help him and take things off his plate,” Dalman said. “So that he can do the things that he does best.”
The Bears still haven’t seen Williams’ best. Adding a starting center or two guards, they hope, will help bring that out of him.
“Obviously he still has a lot to learn,” Odeyingbo said. “[He’s] still a young guy, but you can see the immense amount of potential and, you know, where he’s going.”