Caleb Williams said that he has been eager to return to work since the Chicago Bears’ season ended in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, and that is even with the intriguing adjustment of losing DJ Moore in a trade to the Buffalo Bills.
In Moore’s place, 2025 second-round pick Luther Burden III is poised to take a significant step forward this coming season.
Williams is among the Bears figures who saw it last season and are excited about this year.
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Williams spoke candidly about missing Moore as a teammate, but also said that he understood the business side of the game. He also expressed his excitement over the Bears
“His growth from when he got here to the end of the season, it was enjoyable to watch. It was motivating to watch, it was exciting to watch. And so, we know who Luther is. We know he’s a competitor. We know when we get the ball in his hands, he’s a ‘problem child,’ as he says,” Williams told Clocker Sports on Monday.
“Being able to grow this year with him knowing the offense and things like that, and being able to grow and us getting on the same page more and more with small things that you may not see or may not hear about, and things like that, it’s going to be fun.”
The Bears are basing their faith on what they have seen from Burden on a daily basis.
But his rookie season line still fell short of what was Moore’s worst season as a pro, save for touchdown receptions. To that end, it will take a group effort to replace Moore.
“[Building chemistry] going to be really important for us,” Williams said. “And that goes with all the guys, whether it’s running backs, Khalif [Raymond], and the other wide receivers and other tight ends, and whoever it may be, is the growth that we’ll have this year with all the guys that’s either been in the offense or was in the offense this past year. It’s going to be really fun to go out there and grow together.”
Cole Kmet Keeps It Real
One part of that group effort is veteran tight end Cole Kmet, the Bears’ second-longest-tenured player behind only kicker Cairo Santos. The 2025 season was the first winning campaign of Kmet’s career.
He cited that reality when asked how it feels coming off the most successful season he has seen since the Bears selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Kmet has no intentions of going back to the old days.
“I don’t think for me it’s hard. I’ve experienced more years of bad seasons than good So for me, it’s not too hard to go back to what it felt like for those bad seasons,” Kmet told Clocker Sports on Monday.
“I don’t want that to happen again. So, I don’t know. I kind of think about those years, and I don’t want to experience that, and that kind of drives me going forward.”
Kmet echoed head coach Ben Johnson’s message: they are moving on from last season.
At the same time, Kmet, Williams, and the Bears are looking to go even further than they did this past season in 2026, and the road to making that goal a reality begins this spring. The Bears will have their first organized team workouts on May 27.