Bears’ Williams ready to take next step in development

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and some teammates met with reporters Monday at Halas Hall as the team started its offseason workout program.

Here are four of the most interesting things the Bears said Monday.

Williams’ development

Williams proved he could play to his potential under head coach Ben Johnson’s direction last season by leading seven comeback wins and to a playoff win. Now the former No. 1 overall pick will need to elevate his game again.

“I would say for me, personally, it’s a big year in the sense that I get to grow more, I get to step into the role that I spoke about for the past two years being up here,” Williams said.

He’ll have the benefit of familiarity. Although Williams will have to build a rapport with new center Garrett Bradbury, he won’t start from the ground up learning a new offense. Williams showed comfort in the offense late last season.

“(Johnson) is going to push me,” Williams said. “I am going to push myself and I’m going to push my teammates. And he’s going to push my teammates and things like that. We’re going to find ways to get better.”

Moving on from last year

Johnson’s mindset about this offseason became clear a few days after last season’s playoff run ended. The Bears were moving on.

“We’re looking to not only get back to where we were last year with a chance to go to the NFC Championship game, but to exceed that and go win a Super Bowl,” tight end Cole Kmet said.

New veterans like safety Coby Bryant and center Bradbury echoed their new team’s motto. Bryant and Bradbury played against each other in last season’s Super Bowl, with Bryant’s Seattle Seahawks beating Bradbury’s New England Patriots.

Neither player thought it would be too hard to move on from their own successes last year.

“Once I sign here, everything I’ve done in Seattle is behind me, honestly,” Bryant said. “I’m looking forward to, like I said, being a part of this team and this organization.”

Filling leadership holes

Center Drew Dalman, safety Kevin Byard and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds were among the leaders who departed over the offseason. The Bears will rely on returning players like Kmet and new players like Bryant to fill those voids.

Williams himself has taken more of a leadership role.

Bryant and Bradbury said Williams reached out to them after the team acquired them. It’s not uncommon for a quarterback to want to speak to his future center. But it’s less common for the quarterback to reach out to a team’s defensive signing, something Bryant called rare and a sign of the kind of leader Williams is at a young age.

“I think it’s important for me to be able to reach out as one of the guys on the team, one of the leaders on the team, and also I want to know, I want to be cool, with all my teammates in that sense of, I’m no bigger than them,” Williams said. “I’m just a teammate.”

Kmet returning

The Bears had to make tough roster decisions to manage their salary cap. They traded wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills and didn’t re-sign Edmunds. But the Bears kept some players who were considered potential cap casualties.

Kmet is set to have an $11.6 million cap hit this year with a $3.2 million dead cap hit if the team cuts him after June 1, according to Over The Cap. But after meeting with Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles at the end of last season, Kmet didn’t think he would be anywhere else.

“Look, Ryan and Ben, I really take them at their word for what they say,” Kmet said. “They’re very honest guys. They expressed an interest in me being here, staying here and all that. But I also understand if an offer comes across their plate for them to make a move or them to make a change, they would definitely do that.”

Kmet and Colston Loveland became one of the NFL’s best tight end combinations. Loveland led the team with 713 receiving yards and six touchdowns during his rookie season while Kmet embraced his role as a run-blocker and made critical catches down the stretch.

On the surface, it might’ve made sense not to keep two starting tight ends with cap restraints. But the Bears showed how much they valued two-tight end sets and how important it is to the offense’s success.

“I think the two tight ends are paramount, and I saw that,” Kmet said. “It might not always be in the passing game.”