NFL takes on Drake Maye and Caleb Williams, plus trade offers - ESPN

It's good to be back.

The Tuesday column has been quiet since Week 1, as I took paternity leave following the arrival of my second kid. She's real stinkin' cute, and her big sister loves her (if perhaps a little too enthusiastically at times). Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes.

At first, it was easy to spend time pushing strollers and changing diapers while the 2025 NFL season whisked on. But after six weeks of keeping my mouth shut — a truly Herculean task for an NFL analyst during a season — I'm bursting at the seams with takes. I want to talk about that Cardinals implosion against the Titans, and Jaxson Dart's debut against the Chargers, and that ridiculous 40-40 overtime finish between Green Bay and Dallas. But there is only so much time.

I shaved it all down to my four biggest, most urgent takes from two months of NFL silence. Then I submitted my trade deadline wish list, answered some of your questions and ended the column with some Next Ben Stats. Let's hit the ground running.

Jump to a section:
The Big Thing: Takes I can't wait to discuss
Four trades that need to happen
Mailbag: Answering questions from… you
Next Ben Stats: Wild Week 8 stats

Every week, this column will kick off with one wide look at a key game, player or trend from the previous slate of NFL action. What does it mean for the rest of the season? This week, we looked at four things that have been on my mind since my last column — way back before Week 2.

I understand why Bears fans are frustrated. When Williams was selected with the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, he came with glorious fanfare. Yet to this point in his career, he has been dramatically outproduced by the second (Jayden Daniels) and third (Drake Maye) picks. On film,