Caleb Williams has been savagely attacked by NFL icon Boomer Esiason after a new book claimed he didn’t want to be drafted by the Chicago Bears.

Extracts from a new book by ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham this week detailed fears Williams had about being picked by Chicago – claiming his preferred choice was Minnesota Vikings.

Esiason was stunned to read the revelations and hit out at the young quarterback on Friday.

‘I would just tell him to keep your mouth shut,’ he raged on WFAN radio. ‘You’re going into the greatest league that there’s ever been for the sport we all love. 

‘You’re going to have a chance one day to make $500 million because guys like me and guys before me all went on strike so you could actually make more money. So keep your piehole shut and go out and play football and earn your keep and earn your respect.

‘The level of enтιтlement is breathtaking. It is no wonder he failed initially and it is no wonder that the coach got fired. So now they go out and get an offensive coach in Ben Johnson and now it on his ᴀss.’

Boomer went off on Caleb Williams amid reports that he wanted to avoid the Bears to the point where he and his family looked to sidestep the CBA �� pic.twitter.com/Tk6N1zQXSa

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) May 16, 2025

Caleb Williams wanted to be drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, a new book claims

It comes as Bears head coach Ben Johnson dismissed bombshell new claims that his quarterback, Caleb Williams, never wanted to be drafted by the organization.

Addressing those claims in an interview with Colin Cowherd, Johnson insisted Williams is commited to making his time in Chicago a huge success.

‘I don’t know what’s been going on prior to him joining the organization, but he is very proud to be a Chicago Bear,’ Johnson said.

‘That’s what our conversations have included. He’s really excited to get to work right now and be the best version of himself for 2025.’

The book by Wickersham details just how anxious Williams and his family felt about being potentially picked by the Bears in the 2024 draft.

‘Do I want to go there? I don’t think I can do it with Waldron,’ Williams reportedly told people around him about the then-Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

‘I need to go to the Vikings,’ the book says Williams told his father, Carl, after a meeting with Kevin O’Connell at the NFL combine.

Carl was said to be in agreement with his son, reportedly telling multiple agents in the run-up to the draft: ‘I don’t want my son playing for the Bears.’

Bears head coach Ben Johnson was dismissive of what the claims mean for the future 

The quarterback out of USC is said to have changed his mind after a visit to Chicago, telling his dad: ‘I can do it for this team. I’m going to go to the Bears.’

Remarkably though, Williams was right to be concerned. The Bears endured a 10-game losing streak in his rookie season in a run that saw Matt Eberflus fired as head coach, with Waldron also departing.

During his rookie season, Williams apparently told his father that he wanted more guidance from senior figures such as Eberflus and Walden.

‘No one tells me what to watch, I just turn it (the film) on,’ ESPN claims he said.

Ironically, Williams and the Bears will start the 2025 season against the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field, with O’Connell starting with the quarterback he eventually took in the same draft as Williams in JJ McCarthy.

McCarthy injured his knee in preseason, meaning his rookie year was over it before it had properly begun.

The second game of the season sees Williams lead the Bears against the Detroit Lions, the team his new coach Ben Johnson left to take over in Chicago.