One of the growing discussions about the Chicago Bears quarterback situation is the idea of hedging their bets. This would involve keeping Justin Fields for another year while also taking their top prospect at #1 overall. That player could sit on the bench for a season, transitioning to the NFL landscape and learning the offense. Meanwhile, the Bears could let Fields play another season to keep the locker room happy and maybe make a run at the playoffs. Then in 2025, the Bears can let Fields walk or trade him, or if he breaks through as a franchise guy, they can trade the former #1 pick for a large package.
It is an interesting idea. Teams have done it before. Cincinnati sat Carson Palmer in 2003. Sitting QBs is a proven strategy over the years. However, former Bears personnel director Josh Lucas doesn’t think that would be the best idea. It has nothing to do with whether it might be good for the drafted quarterbacks. He’s all for it. The problem is he doesn’t think Fields would be on board with it. He learned this from how the QB acted during his rookie season in 2021 with veterans Andy Dalton and Nick Foles.
Lucas explained on the Bears Banter podcast with Bill Zimmerman.
This is not a side to Justin Fields people would’ve expected.
Lucas has no reason to go on a smear campaign. That would only make the decision to draft him three years ago look worse. It is more Lucas being honest about the type of competitor Fields was. He felt there was no point in listening to Dalton or Foles because he was the best player in that quarterback room. There was nothing they could teach him. Sadly, that is a mentality several young players often have. They’re so used to being the big man on campus that listening to older guys who aren’t good enough to cut it in the league anymore is beneath them.
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Justin Fields is far from the first one to be that way. Maybe if he’d been more open-minded when he arrived, he would’ve looked better prepared when he finally did become the starter. Dalton and Foles could’ve taught him a lot. Self-confidence is great. Alas, sometimes it comes at the cost of self-awareness. Head coach Matt Nagy knew Fields wasn’t ready to start right away. That proved true after Dalton went down with a knee injury. Maybe things would be different now if he’d sat the whole year and been more open to tips from guys who’d played at a high level in the NFL.
