We Speak NFL
NFL Fines Bears QB Caleb Williams $11,941 for Unauthorized Cleat Logo
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has been fined $11,941 by the NFL for displaying an unauthorized logo on his shoes during the team’s Week 6 win over the Atlanta Falcons, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Williams was wearing Caddix cleats in the game. Caddix does not have a deal with the NFL permitting its shoes to be worn in games, which put the footwear outside the league’s uniform and equipment rules.
Williams has appealed the fine. His argument, according to the report, is that he believes the shoes are safer than the options officially licensed by the NFL. He has worn the same type of shoe throughout the 2026 preseason and in every regular-season game he has played. He was not fined for Week 1 or Week 2, and he has not been fined for the Bears’ Week 7 Thursday night game against the New England Patriots.
The fine letter is dated October 20 and does not mention the possibility of Williams being prevented from playing with the Caddix logo visible on his shoes. According to the report, it is his intention to continue wearing them.
The situation puts the league in an interesting spot. If a player believes a shoe made by a company that does not pay the NFL for the privilege is safer than the licensed options, the question becomes whether he should be kept from wearing it, and whether objective data supports the safety claim.
The Bears return to action next Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks, and Williams’ footwear figures to draw plenty of attention when he takes the field.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the last month winning games with an incomplete roster. The cavalry is finally in sight.
Wide receiver Roman Wilson and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon are nearing the end of their required four-game stays on injured reserve, and Pittsburgh’s upcoming bye week falls at the perfect time to welcome them back. The Steelers play once more in Week 8 before the bye gives their returning players an extra week to get ready.
Pittsburgh has weathered the absences well, beating the teams it was supposed to beat, including the New Orleans Saints 16-10 in the NFL’s first game in Paris. But the holes have been real. At receiver, the Steelers lost Michael Pittman Jr. to injured reserve in Week 5 after he aggravated a foot injury, and Wilson went down with a finger injury in the second half of that same week and landed on IR as well. Rookie Germie Bernard has been asked to carry a bigger role behind DK Metcalf ever since.
Not every return is on schedule. Reports indicate there is a chance Pittman misses the rest of the season, and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day’s return timeline remains unknown. But Wilson and Harmon would restore two rotation pieces at positions where Pittsburgh has been stretching its depth for a month.
Head coach Mike McCarthy likes where his roster stands as the reinforcements approach.
“We’ve got the right guys,” McCarthy said during his weekly press conference. “We’ve got a really great mix of veterans and young guys, and you’re just seeing it come together.”
The Steelers built their record without some of their best young players. If Wilson and Harmon come off the bye at full strength, the team that takes the field for the second half of the season will be deeper than the one that survived the first half.
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