The Chicago Bears are surrounded by quarterback rumors. They hold the #1 overall pick again. Almost every insider with any credibility believes the team will draft somebody and trade Justin Fields. GM Ryan Poles has not indicated what the plan is one way or the other. Thus everybody is stuck in a perpetual limbo until something breaks. Expectations are this will happen at some point shortly after the scouting combine next week. One person eager for it to be over is Fields himself.
For the first time in weeks, the Bears quarterback got in front of a camera to discuss his situation. It took place on the St. Brown brothers’ podcast for The 33rd Team. He made one thing clear. If it were his choice, he’d stay. He loves Chicago.
“Of course I want to stay. I can’t see myself playing in another place. If it was up to me, I would want to stay in Chicago. I love the city. The city’s lit. The fans are great. It’s a business; I ain’t got no control over it. The biggest thing with all this going on [is] I just want to it to be over. Let me know if I’m getting traded [or] let me know if I’m staying.”
This is a further reminder that Fields remains an A+ person. He is so easy to root for. Unfortunately, the business of the NFL can be ice cold sometimes. His slow development as a passer, combined with the Bears landing the #1 pick, has forced Poles into a tough decision.
Justin Fields will be remembered fondly by many.
He never lived up to his vast potential in Chicago, but that wasn’t entirely his fault. He landed on the team during a bad time. They were in the middle of a downturn with an aging roster. Poles tried to rebuild it around him as rapidly as possible. He did some good work. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. While the quarterback was an excellent threat as a runner, opponents had too easy of a time stymying him and the Bears’ passing attack. Too often, it felt like everything needed to be perfect for him to function at a high level.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
The harsh truth is you aren’t winning a championship under such conditions. Almost every Super Bowl won in the past two decades involved a top five quarterback. Justin Fields, for all his talent, is not one of those. It doesn’t look like he’ll ever get there. The guy is a tremendous athlete, teammate, and leader. Sadly, that isn’t enough anymore. The Bears understand this. It is a harsh reality. Yet the decision still must be made.
In advocating for Fields to stay another year, it is not because I think he’s going to be around another 10 years and be a top five quarterback. That said, he could be around a long time. But for me the real point is this… Take the opportunity to trade down a small amount and build up your draft capital, including at least another first round pick next year, and use your first round pick this year on Marvin Harrison and then use your other picks to hopefully get a compliment to Kmet at TE, another top OL, and a… Read more »
It was a pretty interesting Podcast, and there was a lot talked about that of course, this article doesn’t mention. Three big ones besides being very clear he wants to stay in Chicago, included: 1) All of this time in limbo is frustrating to Fields because he would normally be studying playbooks and game film already, but right now, there’s nothing to study. 2) Not being in the playoffs really bothers him, and he seems pretty obsessed with being in the them going forward (and losing those games against Denver, Detroit, and Cleveland were crushing). 3) This originated from ESB… Read more »
Not sure of all the things Poles takes into consideration, because he plays close to the vest. One thing I have observed is he is true to himself. Keeping Eberflus upset a lot of fans, but when taking into consideration how Eberflus righted the defensive side of the ball, and coached them up to elite status the last 9 games justified Poles decision. Knowing Eberflus will continue calling the defensive plays, while adding talent and depth makes for great expectations on defense. As for Fields, he’s a class act. It’s not surprising that his team LOVES him and his talent.… Read more »
Pro players all have to deal with the concept of being traded. Playing with that + injuries is why they make the big bucks. Players kinda know they need to go where they are wanted so it can work out fine when it finally happens. It’s this lull that sucks and I sympathize w. Fields and fellow fans on that. Deadlines spur action and they’ll come. First let’s find out about JJ, then other re-signings, the combine, trades and early gate March. We’ll see if Fields is still in limbo in 30 days. I’m in limbo myself with personal stuff… Read more »
I truly feel for JF1. It sucks and I don’t wish this on anyone. But what’s also gonna suck is if/when they do draft a QB that he has to come into a situation where most of the players and half the fan base are pissed JF1 is gone! If I was CW I would be begging that Chicago doesn’t take me and I’ll take my chances with a crappy commanders team🤣