Ryan Poles has put himself into an envious position. Thanks to his trade with the Carolina Panthers, it now looks like his odds are good that the Chicago Bears will end up with either the #1 or #2 pick in the 2024 draft. That means they will have a golden opportunity to find their next quarterback, presuming they’re ready to move on from Justin Fields. Poles has offered no indication where he stands on that. Rumors persist that he is leaning more towards a change rather than giving Fields another year.
It’s not hard to understand why. The quarterback remains inconsistent and suffered yet another injury that cost him playing time. Poles laid out all the areas he wanted Fields to improve. None of those milestones have been reached. There are still seven games left. He has some time, but it’s dwindling. Fans are already looking towards the possibility of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye next April. One person thinks the Bears would be making a mistake if they did that. Future Hall of Fame left tackle Andrew Whitworth spoke on the Thursday Night Football post-game about the situation.
In his mind, the Bears are nowhere near ready to bring in a young quarterback.
“You got a chance this year to use up all that draft leverage to stack this football team with talent,” Whitworth said…
..Because I believe the way you build a football team in the NFL is to continue to stockpile talent, and that’s really the winning model,” Whitworth said. “When you look in San Francisco, when you look at Philly, where Jason (Kelce) plays, it’s about the guys that play around him just as much as it is their quarterback when you want to win year in and year out. So you look at their draft pick capital, maybe trading one of those picks to move back in the first a little further and stockpiling more picks to keep more talent because this team is a lot further away than just one dynamic quarterback.”
It’s a fair argument and one Ryan Poles should know about.
Remember, he came from Kansas City. The Chiefs didn’t draft Patrick Mahomes and then build around him. They laid the foundation of a great roster for four years, adding pieces like Travis Kelce, Eric Fisher, and Tyreek Hill before finally getting the young quarterback in 2017. Before that, they were content to roll with veteran Alex Smith. Whitworth also saw this strategy play out in Los Angeles. He signed with them in 2017. Jared Goff was their quarterback at the time. The Rams kept building the offense over the next few years.
Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Van Jefferson, Sony Michel, Von Miller, and Jalen Ramsey were all acquired in the following years. Once it was clear they had a strong roster, L.A. decided to take their swing at quarterback. They traded for Matthew Stafford in 2021. A few months later, they were Super Bowl champions. Whitworth isn’t the only one saying this, either. Kyle Long said the same thing a few days later, openly stating the rosters he played on a few years ago would’ve wiped the floor with the one this Bears team has.
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As much as everybody wants that elusive franchise quarterback, the current environment in Chicago doesn’t seem overly welcoming for a rookie. Keeping Justin Fields or even rolling with Tyson Bagent might be the more pragmatic approach, allowing Ryan Poles to secure blue-chip talents at other premium positions like wide receiver, left tackle, or pass rusher.
