One of the most puzzling developments of this off-season has been the Chicago Bears being unable or unwilling to trade Justin Fields. Some think GM Ryan Poles overplayed his hand, demanding too much in return for the young starters. Others like Ian Rapoport have stated the Bears aren’t willing to trade him until they are 100% certain they’re going to take a quarterback with the #1 pick. That decision may not be made until the end of March, when pro days and private visits are mostly concluded.
Some feel this approach is needlessly risky, robbing the team of any conceivable leverage in trade talks. Yet that doesn’t seem to bother Poles. He’s more focused on getting the quarterback decision right. This hasn’t stopped other teams from trying to get a deal done. It appears one made a strong push on that front this week. The Philadelphia Eagles were looking for backup help behind Jalen Hurts after losing Marcus Mariota. According to Dan Graziano of ESPN, Fields was one in which they expressed a lot of interest.
When talks bogged down, Eagles GM Howie Roseman opted to trade for former Pittsburgh Steelers 1st round pick Kenny Pickett instead.
Chicago doesn’t seem to be in a rush to trade Justin Fields.
Many believe this is a glaring sign that Poles actually plans to keep the young quarterback. The Bears will trade the #1 pick, get another haul, and keep building the roster around him. In truth, that horse appears to have left the barn. Every insider with credibility has stated the overwhelming belief around the NFL that Chicago will take a quarterback #1 overall, be it Caleb Williams or somebody else. Poles has seen enough of Fields after two years. The fact teams haven’t been more aggressive in their pursuit of Fields only seems to reinforce that decision.
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Based on reading the situation, it feels as if the Bears are content to take this all the way to the draft. There is bound to be at least one or two teams who don’t get a satisfactory outcome at the quarterback position. Once that happens, it is a reasonable assumption they will give the Bears a call about Justin Fields. That is when Poles should have some leverage. Barring that, he could even keep the quarterback into the season, gambling that somebody will lose a starter to injury.
They have options. It comes down to how big of a risk they’re willing to take.
Ryan Poles has been revealed as the perpetual rookie GM that he is.
An update was necessary
@carlitopen
That is the way I’m reading what happens. Poles would trade Fields straight up for Justin Herbert, but not for Desmond Ritter or Kenny Pickett.
Those are the price differentials that other GMs are offering.
Anyone who doesn’t think Fields is worth that are either clueless about coaching, or trying to steal from the Bears.
@Brewzer KC has a head coach who can identify offensive problems and address them. Ironically, he doesn’t blame Mahomes (because Mahomes has proven himself over time), Eberflus doesn’t know, and Getsy had no idea what the problems even were, much less addressing them. If you put any receiver (good, bad, new, old) into open spaces, a quarterback can find them. If you don’t have a plan, no one knows where to look. If you rarely, or never, having receivers who understand getting separation, you can throw with anticipation (DJ Moore), if the coaches don’t coach, you leave every player to… Read more »
People are confused between what they see and what they hear. When a professional football person sees Justin Fields play, they see the good, even extraordinary things he does, and they know he can play. Then they use the statistics and they are very mediocre. Teams that want him, are using statistics to lower his price. (Same thing they do in contract negotiations) but everyone knows that the upside reveals “potential.” Football people know that coaching and coordinating is everything. “Potential” cannot be harnessed by either a incoherent system or a confused mind. Poles will listen to anyone. That’s his… Read more »