San Francisco returned guard Jeff Williams to Chicago on May…
San Francisco returned guard Jeff Williams to Chicago on May 16, 1983 after he failed the 49ers' physical and received Bears ninth- and twelfth-round selections in the 1984 draft as settlement. Those became No. 239 Lee Miller and No. 320. Miller never recorded an NFL regular-season appearance, but San Francisco traded No. 320 to Miami for punter Tom Orosz, who handled all 16 regular-season games for the 49ers in 1983 and two more in 1984.
Chicago Bears Received
- player Jeff Williams (returned after failed San Francisco physical)
San Francisco 49ers Received
- pick 1984 ninth round pick (#239-Lee Miller)
- pick 1984 twelfth round pick (#320, later traded to Miami for Tom Orosz )
Trade Analysis
This May 16 transaction is the formal resolution of the April 26 Jeff Williams trade and should be evaluated as that settlement, not as an unrelated second acquisition. Chicago had originally sent Williams to San Francisco for 1983 ninth- and twelfth-round picks. After Williams failed the 49ers' physical, Pro Sports Transactions records that he was returned to the Bears and San Francisco received Chicago's 1984 ninth- and twelfth-round selections. The Bears' 1984 media guide explicitly says 1984 draft choices were awarded to San Francisco from the 1983 transaction after Williams failed the physical, while the 49ers' guide identifies the resulting selections as Nos. 239 and 320.
Williams' return did not produce additional Bears game value. NFL records show him playing five games and starting all five for Chicago in the strike-shortened 1982 season, but no regular-season appearances in 1983 or later. His pre-settlement Bears career explains why Chicago had tried to trade him in the first place, but those earlier starts are not value created by the May 16 resolution. For the settlement itself, Chicago received a returned player who never again reached its regular-season lineup.
San Francisco used the 1984 ninth-round choice, No. 239, on defensive back Lee Miller. Pro Football Reference's 49ers draft ledger shows no regular-season career for Miller, so that part of the settlement did not create direct NFL game value. The twelfth-round choice, No. 320, mattered more. Before the 1984 draft, the 49ers traded that Chicago-derived selection to Miami for punter Tom Orosz. San Francisco's own media guide explicitly links No. 320 to the Williams settlement and the Orosz trade.
Orosz immediately became San Francisco's punter in 1983. NFL records credit him with all 16 regular-season games that year, 65 punts for 2,552 yards, a 39.3-yard gross average and 16 punts inside the 20. He appeared in two more games in 1984 and punted five times for 195 yards before Max Runager took over the job. Those 18 regular-season games are a direct downstream return from the No. 320 settlement pick because San Francisco exchanged that exact asset for Orosz.
The settlement therefore favors San Francisco. Chicago got Williams back but received no further regular-season contribution from him. San Francisco's ninth-round pick did not pan out, yet its twelfth-round pick became a full-season starting punter and 18 games of roster service. A B- for the 49ers and D for the Bears reflects a clear but modest advantage in a transaction whose primary purpose was correcting a failed physical rather than creating a conventional roster swap.