Caleb Williams asked Bears to pay him as an LLC

Caleb Williams is Finally, he signed his rookie contract. Together Chicago BearsWhy did it take so long? Williams’ representatives reportedly made some unprecedented demands before signing the contract.

Williams participated in rookie and team activities but had not signed his four-year, $39 million contract with the Bears until earlier this week. According to Pro Football Talk, there were discrepancies in the language in Williams’ contract and it included some strange requests that we’ve never seen a player make.

According to Mike Florio, Williams requested that the down payment be made in the form of a limited liability company (LLC) or that the down payment be made into a forgivable loan. You might wonder what either of these would accomplish: They would allow him to avoid paying taxes to the state of Illinois. Limited liability companies don’t have to file income taxes in Illinois, and making the down payment into a forgivable loan would mean he wouldn’t have to pay taxes on the down payment until the loan was forgiven, “up to 10 years into the future,” according to Florio.

The Bears took both requests to the NFL because there’s nothing in the rules that says this can’t happen. The NFL disagreed, saying William’s money can’t go to any non-player company, Florio said. It wasn’t clear why the league rejected the forgiveness proposals.

To be honest, I would ask for the same thing. I hate taxes and if there’s a way to legally avoid them, I’ll do it any way I can. That Williams’ camp even floated the possibility is pretty genius. No other players have asked for this before, but after Williams asks, more players will start asking for it.

That being said, it would be incredibly funny to hear Williams say “Caleb Williams, LLC” during the opening of a Bears game on Sunday Night Football.