Bears DE Montez Sweat offers fantastic advice to Caleb Williams ahead of 2024 NFL Draft

Montez Sweat may have only been with the Chicago Bears for half of the 2023 season, but he’s already become one of the team’s obvious leaders and cornerstones. He had six sacks in nine games with the Bears and became the first player to ever lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

Chicago rewarded Sweat with a four-year, $98 million contract in November. He’s one of the highest-paid and most productive players on the team. So when he offers some advice to Caleb Williams ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, the projected first-overall pick should listen.

“Be yourself,” Sweat told Chris Long on the Green Light Podcast. “Don’t try to do it all overnight and just stay humble. Don’t try to do it all by yourself. You got a great group of guys around you … Keenan Allen, Swift from Philly. Just be humble and be yourself.”

Montez Sweat has some advice for the next Bears QB (insert Caleb Williams here)@_sweat9 | @JOEL9ONE | @ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/lzFfKZFAzF

— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) April 8, 2024

Sweat isn’t the first Chicago Bears leader hinting that Williams should do his best to act like any other rookie. Earlier in the offseason, Jaylon Johnson warned that Williams can’t bring “Hollywood” into the Bears’ locker room. It was essentially the same message Sweat is sending.

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In a weird way, it feels like Bears veterans know Caleb Williams is different. And I don’t mean his personality. He’s different in that he’s a rare talent, and when a rare talent joins a new locker room, egos can get in the way. Sometimes, it’s the veterans who feel threatened. Other times, it’s the rookie who feels entitled.

I don’t think Chicago’s veterans will be threatened by a potentially generational quarterback since there’s no veteran quarterback on the roster whose job is on the line. Instead, these Chicago Bears veterans want to win football games, and they want to make sure Williams knows he doesn’t need to put this team on his back. There’s talent on this roster on both sides of the ball. As Montez Sweat said, Williams doesn’t need to have success overnight. He can trust his teammates and allow himself to make rookie mistakes.

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday, April 26. So, too, does a new era of Chicago Bears football.