The NFL is not backing down on Caleb Williams’ cleats, and neither is the Bears quarterback. The league has fined him again for wearing Caddix shoes, and this time the amount doubled.

According to Pro Football Talk, Williams was fined $23,882 for an unauthorized logo on his shoes in Week 7 against the Patriots. That is twice the $11,941 he was hit with for Week 6 at Atlanta. Funnily enough, the Week 6 fine came after he had already played the Patriots.

The rule is simple on paper. Only Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour have partnerships with the NFL, and a player wearing any other brand has to cover the logo. Caddix is not recognized by the league, and Williams had therefore committed a uniform violation.

“I’m huge into trying to stay on the field,” Williams said. “I’m huge into trying to be healthy. It’s a rough game and things like that. So the cleats, they’ve been great. They’ve been super comfy, and they’ve worked.”

Williams says the cleats help him stay healthy over a long season, and he is leaning hard on Caddix’s SmartStuds technology.

“They take tension off of your tendons, your joints, and all of that. So over the course of a long career or over the course of a long year, when you can take some percentage it could be one, it could be 50, it could be 12, it could be whatever, you know. When you take that percentage off consistently over a period of time, you know, you get to have the chance, a higher chance of being healthy. And so that’s what I focus on.”

This comes after Williams confirmed a few weeks ago that he had torn his hamstring in the Week 2 game, in which he was carted off the field. The injury has proven to be dangerous and forced players to miss a lot of time, but Williams was able to come back after three games.

The QB also said his joints, ankles, knees and feet have not bothered him as much as they did in his old cleats, and he called the new ones comfortable. This is also about being available for his teammates, and Williams has been consistent about that message since the first fine landed.

“I’m focused on being able to be out here for the guys and if that can give me a small percentage up and it works, then that’s what I’m gonna do.”

He is not a new Caddix wearer, either. Williams wore the cleats throughout the preseason and the first two games of the season. As of now, he remains unpenalized for those two games.

The switch did not happen overnight. Williams wore Nike during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and he said Caddix had been on his radar for a long time.

The cleats have not slowed him down on the field, either. Williams has thrown for 300 yards in back-to-back games since returning from his three-game absence, becoming the first Bears quarterback to achieve that since Mitchell Trubisky in 2018.

Chicago beat Atlanta 31-23 and followed it up with a 30-24 win over New England. The Bears are now 5-2 and head to Seattle for Monday Night Football. Expect plenty of eyes on his feet.

Per the company, around 40 NFL players sport the brand. The NFL might not have been able to spot and fine all of them. And, in light of growing complaints about player safety, this development has sparked conversation.

There are notable names associated with the brand. Tom Brady himself has endorsed Caddix, who was seen wearing the brand’s cleats in a practice session for the Flag Football Classic.

“I’ve worn a lot of different equipment over the years and most of it is designed the same way. Caddix is doing something different,” he said in March this year. “I’m getting back on the field with two things in mind: high performance and safety. That’s why I chose Caddix.”

For now, though, Williams is not fighting this alone.

Caleb Williams backed by Caddix CEO, who knows the brutal reality of football

Caddix founder Jack Rasmussen had already said he would pay the fine for the Falcons game. Caleb Williams has already appealed that fine.

“From a safety metric perspective, Caleb’s cleats are one of the safest pairs players can wear,” Rasmussen told ESPN. “Regardless if this is a marketing fine or not, I’m happy to pay it.”

Rasmussen is a former football player, having played in college and also securing All-American honors. He was motivated to try to prevent injuries after watching former star Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles go down with an ACL tear. This happened in 2015, and until then, the RB had posted five seasons with more than 1,000 rushing yards. Charles was never able to return to this level in his career after the injury.

Caddix prides itself on its patented SmartStuds, that “flex and rotate” when a player applies force on the ground with their foot, per Sports Illustrated. The reactionary move reduces torque that might lead to non-contact ankle and knee injuries.

However, since Caddix remains off-books for the NFL, Caleb Williams remains in violation of a rule. He will have to cover the Caddix logo to continue wearing it.