For those dreaming of "what-ifs", Caleb Williams apparently has a destination list...would return to school otherwise

[BrisbanePanther]

37 minutes ago, carpanfan96 said:

Nah his NIL deal is worth more yearly than an NFL rookie contract. 

 

Dude has known deals with Playstation,  United Airlines, and Dr Pepper. 

I think this is the key and why his threat is legit. He already has big money, and the powers that be in LA will be throwing a lot more at him to stay for one more year (you could argue that SC is still LA's #1 football team). He would also be getting more due to B1G's greater reach.

His payday would be eyewatering to play for a good team in LA for a QB-whisperer coach that will have him set up to win the Heisman...with fewer games, less pressure, and the college lifestyle. It's the ideal scenario like Peter Pan where he can delay growing up--AND get handsomely rewarded in the process.

The NFL team that wants him will need to probably throw whatever they can at Riley--especially if they aren't on his list.

[kungfoodude]

22 minutes ago, BrisbanePanther said:

He may not be thinking that far ahead...but Luck avoided coming to Carolina only to go to Indy, which may or may not have been a better landing spot--he did retire early after all.

I suspect he could pull an Eli if one of his five teams aren't in a position to draft him #1 and refuse to play for them or telegraph it by who he visits. Traditionalists would hate him and say "they'd never draft him" but there will be more than a few desperate teams who would do what it takes to draft him. 

That move has only been successfully pulled a couple of times in NFL history, although those guys ended up winning SB's.

Williams may overplay his hand in the end, we will see.

[OldhamA]

6 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

NIL changes everything.

 

If Chicago isn't his preferred destination he can just return to school and make 10mil in NIL money.

 

NIL is a major game changer. The elite prospects can use it as leverage especially if they don't want to go to a particular team.

Which defeats the object of the Draft.

[WarHeel]

DRAKE. MAYE.

[Anybodyhome]

For purposes of context- John Elway, Bo Jackson and Eli Manning are the 3 players who made it known they would not play for the teams who were positioned to draft them.

Elway was going to the Colts, Jackson to Tampa Bay (he opted to play for the Kansas City Royals that year instead of the NFL), and Eli was going to San Diego.

[ForJimmy]

I saw one of the teams was rumored to be the Niners??? Really? Purdy hasn’t lost a game yet and Caleb is going to go in there and take his job as a rookie?

[Waldo]

I completely respect that. Good for him. I like the balance the draft order brings to the league but some teams need the pressure of talent walking away from them to open their eyes of how poorly they are run. The Bears could have the top 2 picks in the draft but that isn't somewhere a QB is likely to have success regardless of tallent.

The list looks mighty small for sure but that's his challenge. I'm kind of interested to see how that plays out.

I have no problem with a prospect acting like a professional and caring about their careers. I wouldn't want to waste 4 to 5 years of my career working a dead end job regardless of pay if I could avoid it. Make teams earn some of it too because some of them need a slap for how they run their teams.

[therealmjl]

The Vikings on that list seems super random.

[LinvilleGorge]

17 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

I saw one of the teams was rumored to be the Niners??? Really? Purdy hasn’t lost a game yet and Caleb is going to go in there and take his job as a rookie?

His preferred destination is Miami and Tua is an early MVP candidate. This guy's ego might be an issue.

[ForJimmy]

22 minutes ago, therealmjl said:

The Vikings on that list seems super random.

They have a good offense and Cousins is in his last year. It’s definitely the smallest market but he probably wants to throw go JJ and Addison. He could look good fast with those weapons kind of like Burrow and the Bengals. 

[NAS]

1 hour ago, WarHeel said:

DRAKE. MAYE.

Yep that's the guy

[LinvilleGorge]

It's definitely gonna be an interesting QB class to watch. There are a lot of intriguing prospects.

[ForJimmy]

The Caleb thing doesn’t really bother me. We were there and passed on Stroud could be what hurts the most. If Stroud turns out to be the next guy that hurts way more than missing on the Caleb sweepstakes because who knows what our record would be if we waited one more year for a QB. Too many variables to say we would be picking 1 and miss Caleb. We might have missed on a great one with the pick in our hands. Time will tell.

[Varking]

8 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

NIL changes everything.

 

If Chicago isn't his preferred destination he can just return to school and make 10mil in NIL money.

 

NIL is a major game changer. The elite prospects can use it as leverage especially if they don't want to go to a particular team.

It’s all just delaying the inevitable. Chicago could just repeat and get the first overall pick again. Then he has to go there. 10 mil in NIL isn’t worth slowing down the pace to get to a second NFL contract. And that’s where the big money is. He also risks being injured and having his stock drop. He isn’t winning a Natty at USC so what would he be returning for? The endorsement deals if he hits big in Chicago is significantly greater than any NIL deal.