Everybody knows what is ahead. Justin Fields is finally back from his dislocated thumb. The Chicago Bears have seven games left on their schedule, starting with a visit to Detroit on Sunday. It is an important stretch for many involved. Fields has to show his brief surge of productivity against Denver and Washington in October wasn’t a flash in the pan. Matt Eberflus must prove he can keep his team competitive against good teams and actually win some games. It feels like jobs are on the line if it doesn’t go well. Adam Schefter likely has a good idea of what could happen.
The ESPN insider appears on the Pat McAfee Show, where he was asked about the situation in Chicago. He made it pretty clear Fields is under the microscope. His job is nowhere close to safe. The Bears want to see him play well down the stretch. However, it might not be for the reason many people think. Retaining him as the franchise guy is the popular theory, but there is another layer to it. Schefter seems to think they may want him to play well so his trade value will be high next off-season.
Justin Fields understands his precarious position.
He didn’t mince words when asked about his goal over the last two months. It is to win games. The only way he might sway GM Ryan Poles and the team brass that he can be their guy is to stack some victories. Fields is 6-25 as a starter. Not all of that is his fault, with how bad the defense has been at times. Still, his rough play in the 4th quarter and turnover-prone ways also played big parts in the problems. The Bears have asked for consistency all season. Thus far, the quarterback hasn’t provided it.
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Schefter leaned into a growing belief among several other insiders. The feeling is Poles is ready to move on. If the Bears secure a top-2 pick in the 2024 draft, they plan to take a quarterback. That would mean his goal with Justin Fields is to trade him to another quarterback-needy team. One way to make that possible is if the 24-year-old puts on a good showing over the remaining seven games. That would encourage other teams to be more aggressive with their offers, securing the Bears a sizable package of assets in return.
It is similar to a baseball team seeing a pitch look great and then flipping him at the deadline for prospects. Theo Epstein did it with the Cubs. Perhaps Poles aims to do the same.
