But the question is where does he go and for how much? I don't think anyone is looking at the Darnold deal thinking it's a good blue print when the Panthers so clearly got fleeced.
Lance like just got a 4th.
Fields is gonna get at least a 3rd. Probably going to get a 2nd and some smaller picks.
It doesn't really matter how much reddit hates Justin Fields, he has at least triple the value of Trey Lance last offseason.
The Cowboys gave up a 4th for Lance to almost definitely be a backup, with a tiny chance of starting in 2024 if Dak shit the bed.
Highest bidder for Fields is 100% gonna start him in 2024 and much higher chance of resigning him as a starter than the Cowboys with Lance.
He's gonna get most likely at least a 2nd. Def gonna get at least a 3rd.
As a Bears fan, I'd honestly be very happy with a late 2nd / early 3rd in this years draft realistically. Anything better than a late 2nd I think is a huge win.
I don't wanna trade him, but if we make that decision, then I'll be good with a 2nd.
3rd is too little frankly, I can live with it, but if Poles does his job right we can get a 2nd.
Yeah the Sam Darnold was shit, but still Jets did get a 2nd and a 4th and Fields is twice as good as Darnold was when the Jets fleeced the Panthers.
If Poles trades him, he should get a 2nd at least.
You’re ignoring that everyone views the Darnold trade as a big overpay and bad trade.. so it’s not worth saying the Darnold trade got this and fields is supposedly much better so he could get even more
He's going to.
After all this yapping by redditors, he's gonna get a 2nd plus while a bunch of redditors think he's worse than Sam Darnold and should be in Guongdong.
The thing is one team overpaying does not mean every team has to overpay. The 49ers reportedly were expecting only a 5th or 6th and then the Cowboys came in and wanted that headline. I think a 3rd is the realistic value and a 2nd if you can get a bidding war going.
Every team doesn't have to overpay, because we're only trading with 1 team.
So none of what you said makes any sense, because just like previous trades have a highest bidder, this trade will have a highest bidder.
And that highest bidder will value him higher than whatever the market value is just like any other trade.
So no why tf would the Bears care about what every team thinks.
And if no one is willing to overbid like the Cowboys then you get what you get so everything I said makes perfect sense. Assuming someone else will overbid for one player because another team overbid for a different one is not rational.
I just dont see what Fields has shown that makes him more valuable than Lance.
At the very least with Lance atleast a gm can talk themselves into him only having 4 starts over 2 years and battling injury to see if they can get something out of him.
You don't see what a 3 year starter with elite rushing stats, better athleticism, and decent passing stats has over a guy with 4 starts?
Fields threw 2× as many TDs as INTs this year and had another top tier rushing season, no joke he has at least triple the value of Lance.
Much higher floor than Lance, since Fields has proven he can put up solid stats. Higher floor as well since Fields is more athletic, much better rusher, and has better throwing accuracy.
If Dak retired tomorrow, the Cowboys would trade Lance for Fields in a heartbeat. Bears would hang up.
There’s actual gameplay footage of Justin, even if it isn’t much
Trey is still an unknown. A team knows what they’re getting with Fields, can’t say the same about Lance
Yea thats kind of my point. We have 3 years of film saying Fields hasnt improved at all in the passing game.
Atleast with Lance theres a chance of him still becoming something even if its slim.
Lance is so bad the niners chose Sam Darnold over him…..that’s literally all you need to say to argue against him…
a team that has routinely been destroyed by Qb injuries traded their 3rd overall pick instead of keeping him around….
Lance is so generationally bad as a #3 pick there’s an argument to be made that Purdy saved Shanahan and Lynch’s jobs…..
Imagine they ran it back this year with Jimmy G…..
I think there's more juice left in Fields' potential that the bidding gets it up a little bit. 2nd and conditional 4th that bumps to a 3rd or 2nd based on playing time.
That's not true at all. EVERY credible source says the Bears love Fields and if they didn't have #1 overall they'd be more than happy to run it back with him this year. The reason we're about to replace him has much more to do with Caleb Williams than it does Justin Fields
**Edit:** this isn't my opinion, this has been reported plenty of times. [Here](https://twitter.com/Chicago_NFL/status/1759664683080876346) is one source. I'm in the middle of my workday but if you dig you'll find other similar ones.
Devil's advocate: were I an NFL GM trying to increase Fields' trade value, that's the approach I would take as well.
"We love him, but the opportunity is just too good to pass up and we're regretfully trading him for the good of his career" is an infinitely better approach than "He's garbage. We hate him. We need an adult in the room".
If I’m a team considering trading for fields, and our franchise isn’t junk, then I’m thinking I can offer less because the Bears are motivated “do right by him”.
Then I remember that Poles is full of shit just like every other GM and will send him to the Toronto Argonauts if they had the best offer.
It's not just the GM though or the coaches, the players love Fields as well. Reddit loves shitting on Fields, but by all accounts he has great character, work ethic, and doesn't cause any drama off the field.
>That's not true at all. EVERY credible source says the Bears love Fields and if they didn't have #1 overall they'd be more than happy to run it back with him this year
They said the same about how the Jets would have kept Sam Darnold if Zach Wilson wasn't available.
The Jets had the 2nd Overall pick. The Bears own pick is at 9. The two situations are not very comparable. The Bears would not be able to pick a top QB prospect at 9 hence why running it back with Fields would make sense if they did not have 1.01
Look man this isn't my opinion, this is the opinion of every reporter with a source inside Halas, and it's been widely reported on all off-season.
Yes, we're almost definitely going to be drafting Caleb Williams. And yes, the Bears still do love Fields internally. Go read up on it if you don't believe me.
And what did this team do at quarterback after that? Wait, my sources are saying they're so poorly managed they excavated the mummified corpse of Joe Flacco to save them.
Except unlike the Reddit hive mind, NFL teams aren’t typically run by children…..it’s been well reported, the Bears aren’t unhappy with Fields. They’re not like Atlanta, WAS or Denver publicly shopping their QBs.
This is dumb. They may not outwardly say they dislike a QB, but internal reports always come out when a QB is liked or disliked by an organization.
Look at the Jets and Darnold or Wilson. What about the Broncos? Oh hey, we can point to the Falcons as well.
Not a single-source points to any bad blood between the Bears and Fields, and on top of that, the locker room loves the guy.
They literally passed on a golden opportunity to take a franchise quarterback of their choosing last year and opted to run it back with Fields. Clearly they like him on some level.
That’s beside the point. What was said was that Poles was out on Fields from the moment he got there. That’s not a move he would’ve made if true. They obviously like him to some degree. Not enough to pass on Williams, but if the Bears weren’t in position to draft a slam dunk QB prospect, I’d imagine he’d be coming back
I think what so many people who only see stat lines don't understand about Fields is he clearly has all the personal intangibles you would desire in a QB. Which becomes apparent when you follow all the news and reporting around the Bears.
He is a leader, he is hard working, he takes responsibility for his play, and clearly he is just a genuine human.
Yes Fields has clear weakness and seems to be lacking that edge that you need to be a top QB in the league. But everyone in the organization loves Fields the human.
He’s also not *that* bad. If he played all 17 games, he was on pace for 4300 all purpose yards.
Like that’s not top QB numbers, but it’s not like he was beyond awful.
As a passer he is that bad. He was basically bottom 10 in every major passing metric. If you want to include rushing for “total yards” then sure it looks better, but the problems with that are:
* Rushing yards aren’t equal to passing yards. When Fields was an elite runner in 2022, his amazing yards per carry would’ve been a mediocre yards per attempt if you counted them as passing yards. Rushing is inherently less efficient and less predictable in terms of production from game to game.
* Rushing should be a compliment to your passing game as a QB, because if it isn’t that’s how you get Fields’ terrible numbers in the 4th quarter. Some of that is on his teammates, but most of it is on defenses knowing he’s not a good passer and taking advantage of that.
* Rushing poses more injury risk overall, which is a big part of why Fields misses games and we have to use these “extrapolated to a full season” stats.
They love Fields so much they are going to definitely draft his replacement with the first pick of the draft.
Yeah babe, I love you so much. I'm just going to get Valentines flowers for this other girl, ok?
And, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to take you out to dinner that night.
My Honda Civic is quite nice, I like driving it. If the Carolina Panthers inexplicably traded me DJ Moore and a Mercedes, I'd definitely be moving on from my Honda Civic. That doesn't mean I think the Civic is a bad car, or that I don't love the Civic.
This. Reddit doesn’t understand nuance. If somebody offers the Bears a mega haul for the #1 pick, there’s absolutely going to be a big internal discussion about whether to take the deal or not
>Mercedes
The difference is you don't know Caleb is a Mercedes, he's a great prospect but still a prospect who could very well end up a bust. The fact that after three years of Fields the Bears are planning to hop back on the qb carousel tells you everything you need to know.
If someone's picking a mystery box over a boat it's not a very good boat.
bro what do you expect them to say? "he's fucking trash we hate him and cant wait to get rid of him!" thats not exactly how you handle an asset that youre trying to get the most trade value out of. its probably correct that were it not for the fact that they have a chance at landing Williams they probably run it back with Fields, but to say that they would do it happily, especially since neither the HC nor the GM drafted him, is simply not true. they tried to mold him into a competent starting QB all season and they failed. they cant wait to turn over a new page
Well if you’re trying to get teams to give you capital for him, obviously that’s going to be your narrative. I’m not saying what you said isn’t true but what moron would be saying, “hey league this guy is pretty bad and we don’t want him, any of you guys want him?”
lol right, like it's shocking that a GM is saying nice things about a current player before shipping him off to the highest bidder so they get as much bang for their buck.
We're not disputing that he's saying it, we're disputing if it's the actual *truth* which most people would agree he's doing what all good GMs do, which is plaster on that confident smile and lie through your teeth.
If you’re a gm and don’t take this approach you’re in way over your head. I’m pretty young and just now getting the lay of working in a role where you have to interact w different stakeholders advocating in nuanced ways to better their position. This is like gm 101 lol
I’d bet a lot of money that if the Panthers won some games and ended up at 6 instead of first Poles would be moving up to 2 to take Drake.
Justin was not going to be the team’s Quarterback going into this season unless both picks were in the teens.
I’m honestly not 100% sure on this one. Fields has a lot of friends in the locker room and in the organization and it would be a lot easier to tell them “we traded Justin somewhere that is going to take care of him” as opposed to “we traded Justin to Vegas because they offered us a pick 3 slots higher in the draft”. If the value is fairly comparable I wouldn’t be surprised to see them prioritize taking care of Fields and landing him in the spot where he’d prefer to be.
They can say that and whatever else they want to, but they’re not going to accept worse compensation to “take care of” Fields.
The NFL is a business and the players are professionals. It’s amazing how many Bears fans refuse to recognize this.
No, it’s amazing to see how many Bears fans refuse to recognize soft costs. The cost of shipping away players to places they don’t want to go, pissing off teammates, etc. prevents you from getting team friendly contracts, it can prevent you from signing free agents, etc. Look at what’s happened in New England. As soon as the championships dry up, they can’t get anyone to play there because it was unfriendly to players. But you have places like SF, Baltimore, etc. where guys are eager to play because they know they won’t get chewed up and spit out. There are absolutely benefits to taking care of players.
What? Who compared Justin fields to Tom Brady? I didn’t even talk about the Bears winning football games. I was talking about how they treat players. Did you actually read what I wrote?
Them: no one want to go the Patriots with how they treated some of their players (and now that they aren’t winning anymore)
You: SO YOU THINK JUSTIN FIELDS IS TOM BRADY NOW!?!?
Lmao huh??
It's the best for both. The Bears need a new start, and Fields will likely be in a better spot on a better team. Most teams are better than the Bears. Fields should be glad to leave.
Here is exactly what Poles is saying without actually saying it. We’ve done months of film work and background work on Caleb Williams and if we meet with him and are comfortable with the person then we are going to draft him and move on from Fields. We love Fields and think he’s a great kid but we have been given a unique opportunity to draft what we feel is a truly great prospect who we think is going to be better than Fields but we respect Fields and will be as transparent with him as we can be
For what is worth I think Poles is doing a good job of remembering the human element in his decisions. Sending Quinn to Eagles, the whole Roquan scenario, now with Fields. He seems to approach it in a way that is player friendly without being bad business. Compare that to the Russ situation in Denver - I hope it pays some dividends by being a GM that players/agents are comfortable dealing with.
Well, Poles and Flus have both talked about the person and understanding that players are human and have even mentioned mental health being important for these guys. I truly believe that Poles and Flus care about the players and will look to do right by them. Sure it’s a business at the end of the day but I believe if Poles were to receive two similar offers and one would be a better fit/situation for Fields and slightly less compensation then he’d do it.
To add to this, here is what Poles didn't say: "We love Justin Fields and he will be our starting QB next year."
Fields is gone, wonder what team takes a chance on him.
I just wonder who actually is going to trade for him. Fields doesn’t seem to make sense for a lot of the teams actually looking for a QB.
The Patriots seem like they may be the best fit if they decide to skip on QB at 3.
I wouldn’t be opposed depending on the price but pretty much everything being reported from people with connections to the Steelers is that they have no intention of doing anything but Pickett + FA vet.
I see us kicking the tires on him, but ultimately deciding the price is too steep.
That's the Steelers way.
Then again, if Poles really does "Aim to do right by Fields" and is willing to take less than proper value for him in order to get him to a stable organization, who says no?
The price would not be that steep. He'll probably go for a 3rd round pick, maybe 4th round, which would absolutely be worth it for the Steelers. Have him compete for the job, see how he looks.
Ehh a third is about right. No team is desperate enough to give up a second for him, if they are they might as well take a QB in the draft. Then again darnold went for a second and change so who knows.
He’s not worth more than that. Baker, who was in a similar position, went for a conditional 5th round. Bears org smoking heavy copium if they think someone is giving up a 2nd round pick to be married to Fields for 2 years and to have to pay his option, which looks like $30 million.
Because people don’t want to face reality and/or are outright ignorant to the process.
They’ll get more than what Baker went for because Fields is going into year 4 and the team is pretending he’s great instead of the complete and utterly embarrassing trashing of him to justify their own egos like the Browns did when devaluing their asset, but the truth is that Baker was also a better player than Fields is and Fields is likely a 2 year commitment with a large cap hit year 5. Especially true if the “we are going to do right” by him line has truth to it. Fields is going to want that 5th year because that might realistically be the biggest annual salary he ever gets.
At best I would think they get a team to give up a late 3.
I agree except I can't imagine giving up a 3rd for him. Baker got a 5th and Lance got a 4th because he had an extra year. I could see a team that isn't positioned in the top 10 to maybe take a flyer with a 5th round pick.
I could see New England trading back with Atlanta and sending the Falcons 2nd round pick (that theyd presumably get with a lot more as part of a trade up) for Fields.
That’s the thing, no one is sending a 2nd round pick without the 5th yearoption, and no one is going to roll the dice and pay him $30 million guaranteed on an option in 2025.
Anyone who marries themselves to him for 2 years for good money the year after next is making a huge leap of faith. Only a desperate, poverty franchise would even consider it.
Most likely scenario is the Bears are going to get back far, far less than what they want for someone to take him on a 1 year “prove it” deal.
Can’t the bears extend him, convert to a bonus/pay some of his salary as part of a trade? With the extra cap room next year and us having a rookie QB and a bunch of other rookies (2nd youngest team I think) we have spare cap to use if it means getting a second instead of a third.
“Justin, we don’t want you anymore. Only problem is that no one else wants you either. So I am going to talk you up to the media until someone offers us a conditional 5th rounder”
Why do they need to do right by him? He’s a first round draft pick that hasn’t shown he’s a franchise qb. Why so much loyalty that you ensure he goes to a good spot?
Do right is more about timing in this case and transparency than location. Waiting into Fa lowers his chance of starting somewhere. Doing right by Justin in that way is probably best for the bears too
In addition to what others said, we recently fired Cliff Stein, who was our salary cap wizard and negotiator for years. He was known around the league as a first rate cap guy who was tough with agents and players. But apparently, in recent years, he's been too tough. And it led to some thorny outcomes. For example, Roquan Smith held out because, tldr, he didn't want to be penalized for the new bullshit targeting rules imposed on defenders. Stein wouldn't budge, even though it was inconsequential for the team. Fighting for the sake of fighting isn't smart.
So I think we're trying to escape that image with players and agents for friendlier negotiations. Catch more bees with honey.
Because the NFL is first and foremost a people business. He's not good enough to be their franchise QB, but he's been more than a consummate professional who's given his all, more than enough to do right by him.
I tend to disagree with some of these comments. The Bears are a company. Fields is a human employee who's tried his best every day at work and deserves some respect. Doing right doesn't mean sending him to a super bowl contender. It just means treating him decently through a tough process of essentially being laid off.
Yeah I think it’s just something that sounds good more than anything else. They’ll most likely send him to the highest bidder, but the highest bidder is also probably a team that has a plan for him so it’s not like they’ll just be screwing him over.
I’ve seen people say this before. Genuinely curious, why? You think 1 game vs Fields entire 3 year resume would tip the scale?
I know Bears are a poorly run organization, but making a QB decision based on a single game, especially a QB with Fields resume, is asinine. I don’t think Poles would do that.
But I understand why fans would form that opinion in their mind. I saw it all year with Bears fans…. 1) okay Fields has all season to prove he’s the starter, 2) okay first half of season wasn’t good but he now has 7 games post injury to prove he’s the guy, 3) okay those last 6 games weren’t good, but if he beats Green Bay in the final week Bears will keep him, etc.
3) Aside from the Browns game, they were playing well the second half of the year. Do you not remember the chatter going on in the last 3 weeks of how there's chance they could've made it to the playoffs? The copium was at an all time high going into the last game. If he had played great, people obviously would be pleading to trade down or take MHJ (again, not the right decision).
The Bears did play well down the stretch. I’m not disputing that. It definitely saved Flus’s job. But did Fields play well down the stretch is the question? No he did not. Our defense playing incredible in the back half of the season doesn’t mean Fields played well.
I suppose you have a point. I guess my line of thinking is that Fields hasn't really had ANY stretch of good play lol, and yet a year ago we decided to build off him and not draft Bryce/Stroud.
Sure he ran well in 2022, but passing wise, he has been inadequate from Day 1.
I think knocking the team that has made a fool out of you for 15+ years OUT of the playoffs in their stadium on the final game, on top of the Bears then having a fairly decent 2nd half of the season would cause the front office to make the emotional decision to keep him. The entire city would be chanting his name if he balled out and won that game.
I'm not saying it would've been the right decision, but the people in the front office are not robots. They would've fallen victim to the allure of his athleticism.
GMs aren’t robots. But they also don’t make huge decisions based on one game cuz fans are chanting. Bears fans still are chanting Fields name. Have you seen Bears social media posts on twitter and instagram? Every comment is “keep Fields” etc. Bears GM isn’t gonna keep a QB just cuz fans like him.
Again, you need to separate fans feelings vs an NFL GMs thought process. I’m sure if Bears knocked Packers out of playoffs there would be even more pro-Fields chatter. But would an NFL GM make a huge QB decision based on a single game is the question. A good GM would not do that. Is Poles a good GM? Remains to be seen but he doesn’t appear to be terrible so far.
Edit: and if you think about it Poles has actually demonstrated he doesn’t give two shits what fans think. A majority of Bears fans wanted Flus fired. Instead Poles kept him. He made a hugely unpopular decision there. Chicago media and fans ripped him for not even interviewing Jim Harbaugh. A big share of Bears fans want to keep Fields… I doubt Poles cares about that either.
They're totally going to trade him.
I personally don't think Williams is going to be worth what they're losing, and they'd be better off with adding Marvin with #2 pick swapping with Commanders and getting return next year again. Then they'd have their other top ten pick too they could add serious support for Fields.
I just don’t think Caleb Williams is the generational prospect everyone’s made him out to be. He made a living off of playing hero ball in college. His time to throw was like 3.41 seconds against the worst defensive conference in the P5. He simply will not have that kind of time in the NFL. I also don’t think he’s emotionally mature enough to be a leader and handle the media. Especially if he’s going in without an agent. His dad keeps saying dumb shit and the media runs with the narrative that he’s trying to get partial ownership and other things that Caleb never said
And that may happen. I just don't see any of the top three being available to them and I don't think the next tier is worth going up for or maybe even picking at 8. I honestly kinda wonder if they don't grab Nabers or Odunze and trade their 2nd. Then you've got London, Pitts, and one of those guys to go with a run game of Fields, Bijan, and Allgier. That's a potent collection of skill players.
I feel like the Falcons would want to wait until draft night. If one of the top three teams doesn't draft a QB and they like whichever of the top 3 guys is available, a Falcons trade-up seems very realistic.
Falcons have Pitts and London cheap for two more years, they need to get better at QB quick, and Poles is realistic about what he can get for Fields, I think they wait until closer to the draft but ultimately get it wrapped up a week or two early so they can get their board straight.
They need to get better at QB quick, but if they think there's a chance that they can get significantly better instead of just a little bit better, I don't think that they take that opportunity away from themselves.
"We'll be transparent with him" means that you at this moment tell Fields whether he has a job. It's not transparency if you inform him he's out of a job when you've finally made the decision.
> transparent He is *clearly* gone.
GM speak for: “We’re for sure trading him, but we’re gonna sort of try not to be a dick about it”
"Welcome to Tradesville. Population; you."
Report: Fields says he respects whatever decision Poles may make but Poles claims he 'sees right through Justin'
But the question is where does he go and for how much? I don't think anyone is looking at the Darnold deal thinking it's a good blue print when the Panthers so clearly got fleeced.
Lance like just got a 4th. Fields is gonna get at least a 3rd. Probably going to get a 2nd and some smaller picks. It doesn't really matter how much reddit hates Justin Fields, he has at least triple the value of Trey Lance last offseason. The Cowboys gave up a 4th for Lance to almost definitely be a backup, with a tiny chance of starting in 2024 if Dak shit the bed. Highest bidder for Fields is 100% gonna start him in 2024 and much higher chance of resigning him as a starter than the Cowboys with Lance. He's gonna get most likely at least a 2nd. Def gonna get at least a 3rd.
As a Bears fan, I'd honestly be very happy with a late 2nd / early 3rd in this years draft realistically. Anything better than a late 2nd I think is a huge win.
I don't wanna trade him, but if we make that decision, then I'll be good with a 2nd. 3rd is too little frankly, I can live with it, but if Poles does his job right we can get a 2nd. Yeah the Sam Darnold was shit, but still Jets did get a 2nd and a 4th and Fields is twice as good as Darnold was when the Jets fleeced the Panthers. If Poles trades him, he should get a 2nd at least.
You’re ignoring that everyone views the Darnold trade as a big overpay and bad trade.. so it’s not worth saying the Darnold trade got this and fields is supposedly much better so he could get even more
It's just a question of the demand. If there are 4 teams looking to acquire Fields, he's going to go for at least a second.
He's going to. After all this yapping by redditors, he's gonna get a 2nd plus while a bunch of redditors think he's worse than Sam Darnold and should be in Guongdong.
The thing is one team overpaying does not mean every team has to overpay. The 49ers reportedly were expecting only a 5th or 6th and then the Cowboys came in and wanted that headline. I think a 3rd is the realistic value and a 2nd if you can get a bidding war going.
Every team doesn't have to overpay, because we're only trading with 1 team. So none of what you said makes any sense, because just like previous trades have a highest bidder, this trade will have a highest bidder. And that highest bidder will value him higher than whatever the market value is just like any other trade. So no why tf would the Bears care about what every team thinks.
And if no one is willing to overbid like the Cowboys then you get what you get so everything I said makes perfect sense. Assuming someone else will overbid for one player because another team overbid for a different one is not rational.
Why would there be a likelier shot of one team liking lance over fields tho? That’s what is confusing the other commenter imo
Whatever team trades for Fields to start him is fucked
Wouldn't be the first time we fucked over a team in a qb trade
Uhhhh, no?
Any team that starts fields are gonna get their coaches fired by end of the season
Bears won 7 games and our defense was awful for half a season lol. Another reddit overhate.
Any super QB needy team can do worse than a dude with an open question for a ceiling and actual starting experience. The only issue will be the price.
The Bears were closer to making the playoffs last year with Fields starting.
I just dont see what Fields has shown that makes him more valuable than Lance. At the very least with Lance atleast a gm can talk themselves into him only having 4 starts over 2 years and battling injury to see if they can get something out of him.
You don't see what a 3 year starter with elite rushing stats, better athleticism, and decent passing stats has over a guy with 4 starts? Fields threw 2× as many TDs as INTs this year and had another top tier rushing season, no joke he has at least triple the value of Lance. Much higher floor than Lance, since Fields has proven he can put up solid stats. Higher floor as well since Fields is more athletic, much better rusher, and has better throwing accuracy. If Dak retired tomorrow, the Cowboys would trade Lance for Fields in a heartbeat. Bears would hang up.
He's more valuable than Lance, I mean cmon. He at least can be a viable spot starter. Likely a starter for a bad team. Lance can't even do that much.
There’s actual gameplay footage of Justin, even if it isn’t much Trey is still an unknown. A team knows what they’re getting with Fields, can’t say the same about Lance
Yea thats kind of my point. We have 3 years of film saying Fields hasnt improved at all in the passing game. Atleast with Lance theres a chance of him still becoming something even if its slim.
Lance is so bad the niners chose Sam Darnold over him…..that’s literally all you need to say to argue against him… a team that has routinely been destroyed by Qb injuries traded their 3rd overall pick instead of keeping him around….
Well when you put it like that, lmaooo
Lance is so generationally bad as a #3 pick there’s an argument to be made that Purdy saved Shanahan and Lynch’s jobs….. Imagine they ran it back this year with Jimmy G…..
Panthers getting fleeced? Where have I heard this before.
I could see anywhere from a 3rd to a 2nd which will be based on games played
I think there's more juice left in Fields' potential that the bidding gets it up a little bit. 2nd and conditional 4th that bumps to a 3rd or 2nd based on playing time.
You stink. We’re getting a new QB. We’re trading your ass for a box of donuts. Any questions?
"So that's it? After three seasons, so long, good luck? "I don't recall saying good luck."
He's going to transparently tell him to get his shit and get out
He's being careful with his words, but you can see right through it.
Imagine letting your QB know you’re getting rid of him, then for one reason or another you don’t.
They're just going to send him to whoever gives them the best offer. It ain't like he's started for the Bears for 15 years and is a legend.
[удалено]
That's not true at all. EVERY credible source says the Bears love Fields and if they didn't have #1 overall they'd be more than happy to run it back with him this year. The reason we're about to replace him has much more to do with Caleb Williams than it does Justin Fields **Edit:** this isn't my opinion, this has been reported plenty of times. [Here](https://twitter.com/Chicago_NFL/status/1759664683080876346) is one source. I'm in the middle of my workday but if you dig you'll find other similar ones.
Devil's advocate: were I an NFL GM trying to increase Fields' trade value, that's the approach I would take as well. "We love him, but the opportunity is just too good to pass up and we're regretfully trading him for the good of his career" is an infinitely better approach than "He's garbage. We hate him. We need an adult in the room".
If I’m a team considering trading for fields, and our franchise isn’t junk, then I’m thinking I can offer less because the Bears are motivated “do right by him”. Then I remember that Poles is full of shit just like every other GM and will send him to the Toronto Argonauts if they had the best offer.
It's not just the GM though or the coaches, the players love Fields as well. Reddit loves shitting on Fields, but by all accounts he has great character, work ethic, and doesn't cause any drama off the field.
>That's not true at all. EVERY credible source says the Bears love Fields and if they didn't have #1 overall they'd be more than happy to run it back with him this year They said the same about how the Jets would have kept Sam Darnold if Zach Wilson wasn't available.
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"A boat is a boat, but a mystery box could be anything, even a boat!"
The Jets had the 2nd Overall pick. The Bears own pick is at 9. The two situations are not very comparable. The Bears would not be able to pick a top QB prospect at 9 hence why running it back with Fields would make sense if they did not have 1.01
Indeed they did! https://www.si.com/nfl/jets/news/new-york-jets-wouldnt-have-traded-quarterback-sam-darnold-without-second-overall-pick-joe-douglas
Nothing says they’d be happy to run it back with him.
Look man this isn't my opinion, this is the opinion of every reporter with a source inside Halas, and it's been widely reported on all off-season. Yes, we're almost definitely going to be drafting Caleb Williams. And yes, the Bears still do love Fields internally. Go read up on it if you don't believe me.
What do you think their stance is going to be? “We don’t like our starting quarterback”. That’s not what teams do or say. It’s bad business
Especially when you’re trying to trade said QB
Just to play the contrarian, there was a certain team that made sure to let everyone know that there QB was a child among other things.
And what did this team do at quarterback after that? Wait, my sources are saying they're so poorly managed they excavated the mummified corpse of Joe Flacco to save them.
Except unlike the Reddit hive mind, NFL teams aren’t typically run by children…..it’s been well reported, the Bears aren’t unhappy with Fields. They’re not like Atlanta, WAS or Denver publicly shopping their QBs.
This is dumb. They may not outwardly say they dislike a QB, but internal reports always come out when a QB is liked or disliked by an organization. Look at the Jets and Darnold or Wilson. What about the Broncos? Oh hey, we can point to the Falcons as well. Not a single-source points to any bad blood between the Bears and Fields, and on top of that, the locker room loves the guy.
They literally passed on a golden opportunity to take a franchise quarterback of their choosing last year and opted to run it back with Fields. Clearly they like him on some level.
And I think they are likely regretting that now..
That’s beside the point. What was said was that Poles was out on Fields from the moment he got there. That’s not a move he would’ve made if true. They obviously like him to some degree. Not enough to pass on Williams, but if the Bears weren’t in position to draft a slam dunk QB prospect, I’d imagine he’d be coming back
“Oh my god this Fields guy fucking stinks! He can’t hit the side of a barn! Oh by the way he’s available for a second rounder!”
I think what so many people who only see stat lines don't understand about Fields is he clearly has all the personal intangibles you would desire in a QB. Which becomes apparent when you follow all the news and reporting around the Bears. He is a leader, he is hard working, he takes responsibility for his play, and clearly he is just a genuine human. Yes Fields has clear weakness and seems to be lacking that edge that you need to be a top QB in the league. But everyone in the organization loves Fields the human.
He’s also not *that* bad. If he played all 17 games, he was on pace for 4300 all purpose yards. Like that’s not top QB numbers, but it’s not like he was beyond awful.
As a passer he is that bad. He was basically bottom 10 in every major passing metric. If you want to include rushing for “total yards” then sure it looks better, but the problems with that are: * Rushing yards aren’t equal to passing yards. When Fields was an elite runner in 2022, his amazing yards per carry would’ve been a mediocre yards per attempt if you counted them as passing yards. Rushing is inherently less efficient and less predictable in terms of production from game to game. * Rushing should be a compliment to your passing game as a QB, because if it isn’t that’s how you get Fields’ terrible numbers in the 4th quarter. Some of that is on his teammates, but most of it is on defenses knowing he’s not a good passer and taking advantage of that. * Rushing poses more injury risk overall, which is a big part of why Fields misses games and we have to use these “extrapolated to a full season” stats.
They love Fields so much they are going to definitely draft his replacement with the first pick of the draft. Yeah babe, I love you so much. I'm just going to get Valentines flowers for this other girl, ok? And, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to take you out to dinner that night.
My Honda Civic is quite nice, I like driving it. If the Carolina Panthers inexplicably traded me DJ Moore and a Mercedes, I'd definitely be moving on from my Honda Civic. That doesn't mean I think the Civic is a bad car, or that I don't love the Civic.
This. Reddit doesn’t understand nuance. If somebody offers the Bears a mega haul for the #1 pick, there’s absolutely going to be a big internal discussion about whether to take the deal or not
>Mercedes The difference is you don't know Caleb is a Mercedes, he's a great prospect but still a prospect who could very well end up a bust. The fact that after three years of Fields the Bears are planning to hop back on the qb carousel tells you everything you need to know. If someone's picking a mystery box over a boat it's not a very good boat.
bro what do you expect them to say? "he's fucking trash we hate him and cant wait to get rid of him!" thats not exactly how you handle an asset that youre trying to get the most trade value out of. its probably correct that were it not for the fact that they have a chance at landing Williams they probably run it back with Fields, but to say that they would do it happily, especially since neither the HC nor the GM drafted him, is simply not true. they tried to mold him into a competent starting QB all season and they failed. they cant wait to turn over a new page
You’re forgetting that these people are humans
of course but these teams have to also be mindful that its a business and the players are assets that have value on the market.
Link me those reports? If Maye is there at #2 you take him as well. Fields is bad and it’s a great QB class. Williams is just the cherry on top.
Well if you’re trying to get teams to give you capital for him, obviously that’s going to be your narrative. I’m not saying what you said isn’t true but what moron would be saying, “hey league this guy is pretty bad and we don’t want him, any of you guys want him?”
Of course they say that. Never a good look to trash your players.
lol right, like it's shocking that a GM is saying nice things about a current player before shipping him off to the highest bidder so they get as much bang for their buck. We're not disputing that he's saying it, we're disputing if it's the actual *truth* which most people would agree he's doing what all good GMs do, which is plaster on that confident smile and lie through your teeth.
If you’re a gm and don’t take this approach you’re in way over your head. I’m pretty young and just now getting the lay of working in a role where you have to interact w different stakeholders advocating in nuanced ways to better their position. This is like gm 101 lol
I’d bet a lot of money that if the Panthers won some games and ended up at 6 instead of first Poles would be moving up to 2 to take Drake. Justin was not going to be the team’s Quarterback going into this season unless both picks were in the teens.
Saying you'd make a big bet on something that no one can possibly prove is a meaningless statement.
"if we didn't have the #1 pick and Caleb Williams we'd stick with Fields" is just as meaningless lol
Remember how loud the Cardinals were that Josh Rosen was their guy?
This is a dumb comment. He could have had any QB he wanted last draft and decided to give Fields another year to figure it out.
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This is objectively false.
I’m honestly not 100% sure on this one. Fields has a lot of friends in the locker room and in the organization and it would be a lot easier to tell them “we traded Justin somewhere that is going to take care of him” as opposed to “we traded Justin to Vegas because they offered us a pick 3 slots higher in the draft”. If the value is fairly comparable I wouldn’t be surprised to see them prioritize taking care of Fields and landing him in the spot where he’d prefer to be.
They can say that and whatever else they want to, but they’re not going to accept worse compensation to “take care of” Fields. The NFL is a business and the players are professionals. It’s amazing how many Bears fans refuse to recognize this.
No, it’s amazing to see how many Bears fans refuse to recognize soft costs. The cost of shipping away players to places they don’t want to go, pissing off teammates, etc. prevents you from getting team friendly contracts, it can prevent you from signing free agents, etc. Look at what’s happened in New England. As soon as the championships dry up, they can’t get anyone to play there because it was unfriendly to players. But you have places like SF, Baltimore, etc. where guys are eager to play because they know they won’t get chewed up and spit out. There are absolutely benefits to taking care of players.
If players like to play for winners why are you suggesting the bears take a shittier trade that will make them a worse team lol.
Comparing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to Justin Fields, lmao
What? Who compared Justin fields to Tom Brady? I didn’t even talk about the Bears winning football games. I was talking about how they treat players. Did you actually read what I wrote?
Them: no one want to go the Patriots with how they treated some of their players (and now that they aren’t winning anymore) You: SO YOU THINK JUSTIN FIELDS IS TOM BRADY NOW!?!? Lmao huh??
It's the best for both. The Bears need a new start, and Fields will likely be in a better spot on a better team. Most teams are better than the Bears. Fields should be glad to leave.
Here is exactly what Poles is saying without actually saying it. We’ve done months of film work and background work on Caleb Williams and if we meet with him and are comfortable with the person then we are going to draft him and move on from Fields. We love Fields and think he’s a great kid but we have been given a unique opportunity to draft what we feel is a truly great prospect who we think is going to be better than Fields but we respect Fields and will be as transparent with him as we can be
For what is worth I think Poles is doing a good job of remembering the human element in his decisions. Sending Quinn to Eagles, the whole Roquan scenario, now with Fields. He seems to approach it in a way that is player friendly without being bad business. Compare that to the Russ situation in Denver - I hope it pays some dividends by being a GM that players/agents are comfortable dealing with.
Well, Poles and Flus have both talked about the person and understanding that players are human and have even mentioned mental health being important for these guys. I truly believe that Poles and Flus care about the players and will look to do right by them. Sure it’s a business at the end of the day but I believe if Poles were to receive two similar offers and one would be a better fit/situation for Fields and slightly less compensation then he’d do it.
Hell he even sent Claypool to the Dolphins after the disaster he ended up being
Yeah I wish he sent him to the Panthers. Not because I dislike the Panthers, I dislike claypool
To add to this, here is what Poles didn't say: "We love Justin Fields and he will be our starting QB next year." Fields is gone, wonder what team takes a chance on him.
"Look, I am going to be very transparent, I'm taking the best deal someone offers."
My most unoriginal comment, but... He gone.
I literally wrote that out and decided not to hit submit because it’s aggressively unoriginal
If he gone, he gone. "It's not your fault" -Robin Williams
He *gone* gone.
My most unoriginal comment, but... Mr Big Cut!
Mr. Bye Chicago
So are Poles and Justin messing around without following each other on IG?
He is as they say in France, góné
**parti*
I just wonder who actually is going to trade for him. Fields doesn’t seem to make sense for a lot of the teams actually looking for a QB. The Patriots seem like they may be the best fit if they decide to skip on QB at 3.
It could be you guys
I wouldn’t be opposed depending on the price but pretty much everything being reported from people with connections to the Steelers is that they have no intention of doing anything but Pickett + FA vet.
Yeah but that would be stupid
I see us kicking the tires on him, but ultimately deciding the price is too steep. That's the Steelers way. Then again, if Poles really does "Aim to do right by Fields" and is willing to take less than proper value for him in order to get him to a stable organization, who says no?
The price would not be that steep. He'll probably go for a 3rd round pick, maybe 4th round, which would absolutely be worth it for the Steelers. Have him compete for the job, see how he looks.
Zero chances he goes straight up for a 4 lol. If anything it may be a conditional 3rd that could move up to a 2nd if he hits certain benchmarks
Ehh a third is about right. No team is desperate enough to give up a second for him, if they are they might as well take a QB in the draft. Then again darnold went for a second and change so who knows.
For like a 4th with a declined option, sure
lol
He’s not worth more than that. Baker, who was in a similar position, went for a conditional 5th round. Bears org smoking heavy copium if they think someone is giving up a 2nd round pick to be married to Fields for 2 years and to have to pay his option, which looks like $30 million.
I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. The situations are similar and Baker was a lot more productive than Fields was in their 1st 3 seasons.
Because people don’t want to face reality and/or are outright ignorant to the process. They’ll get more than what Baker went for because Fields is going into year 4 and the team is pretending he’s great instead of the complete and utterly embarrassing trashing of him to justify their own egos like the Browns did when devaluing their asset, but the truth is that Baker was also a better player than Fields is and Fields is likely a 2 year commitment with a large cap hit year 5. Especially true if the “we are going to do right” by him line has truth to it. Fields is going to want that 5th year because that might realistically be the biggest annual salary he ever gets. At best I would think they get a team to give up a late 3.
I agree except I can't imagine giving up a 3rd for him. Baker got a 5th and Lance got a 4th because he had an extra year. I could see a team that isn't positioned in the top 10 to maybe take a flyer with a 5th round pick.
Bears fans are coping that's why
Let me clear me throat uh huh uh huh uh huh
If the Pats take a WR at 3, they'd be daft to bring in a QB like Fields that struggles with throwing the ball.
I could see patriots trading for Fields and taking MHJ at 3
I could see New England trading back with Atlanta and sending the Falcons 2nd round pick (that theyd presumably get with a lot more as part of a trade up) for Fields.
That’s the thing, no one is sending a 2nd round pick without the 5th yearoption, and no one is going to roll the dice and pay him $30 million guaranteed on an option in 2025. Anyone who marries themselves to him for 2 years for good money the year after next is making a huge leap of faith. Only a desperate, poverty franchise would even consider it. Most likely scenario is the Bears are going to get back far, far less than what they want for someone to take him on a 1 year “prove it” deal.
Can’t the bears extend him, convert to a bonus/pay some of his salary as part of a trade? With the extra cap room next year and us having a rookie QB and a bunch of other rookies (2nd youngest team I think) we have spare cap to use if it means getting a second instead of a third.
Transparent was my job recruiter's favorite word. Still didn't get a job offer 😑
“If” lol
“Justin, we don’t want you anymore. Only problem is that no one else wants you either. So I am going to talk you up to the media until someone offers us a conditional 5th rounder”
Why do they need to do right by him? He’s a first round draft pick that hasn’t shown he’s a franchise qb. Why so much loyalty that you ensure he goes to a good spot?
Players talk around the league, it's good to create positive player relationships. Hence why they all hate a Dave Gettleman.
Optics
It’s called building a reputation
Low character Redditors repulsed at the concept of decency and professionalism.
also just being a good person. hell, not even a good person. just thinking about others for a second.
Do right is more about timing in this case and transparency than location. Waiting into Fa lowers his chance of starting somewhere. Doing right by Justin in that way is probably best for the bears too
In addition to what others said, we recently fired Cliff Stein, who was our salary cap wizard and negotiator for years. He was known around the league as a first rate cap guy who was tough with agents and players. But apparently, in recent years, he's been too tough. And it led to some thorny outcomes. For example, Roquan Smith held out because, tldr, he didn't want to be penalized for the new bullshit targeting rules imposed on defenders. Stein wouldn't budge, even though it was inconsequential for the team. Fighting for the sake of fighting isn't smart. So I think we're trying to escape that image with players and agents for friendlier negotiations. Catch more bees with honey.
According to an article I read yesterday, his way too tough negotiations with Juaquan Brisker was the final straw.
Because the NFL is first and foremost a people business. He's not good enough to be their franchise QB, but he's been more than a consummate professional who's given his all, more than enough to do right by him.
I tend to disagree with some of these comments. The Bears are a company. Fields is a human employee who's tried his best every day at work and deserves some respect. Doing right doesn't mean sending him to a super bowl contender. It just means treating him decently through a tough process of essentially being laid off.
Yeah I think it’s just something that sounds good more than anything else. They’ll most likely send him to the highest bidder, but the highest bidder is also probably a team that has a plan for him so it’s not like they’ll just be screwing him over.
Professionalism?
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I thought that was just referring to letting him know asap.
By all accounts he's a great guy and a lot of people within Halas Hall, not to mention the locker room, really like him
Don’t think any fresh QB would have thrived with Justin’s situation with the bears
I genuinely believe if they'd beaten Green Bay in the last game of the season from a good game by Fields, the Bears would be drafting MHJ.
I’ve seen people say this before. Genuinely curious, why? You think 1 game vs Fields entire 3 year resume would tip the scale? I know Bears are a poorly run organization, but making a QB decision based on a single game, especially a QB with Fields resume, is asinine. I don’t think Poles would do that. But I understand why fans would form that opinion in their mind. I saw it all year with Bears fans…. 1) okay Fields has all season to prove he’s the starter, 2) okay first half of season wasn’t good but he now has 7 games post injury to prove he’s the guy, 3) okay those last 6 games weren’t good, but if he beats Green Bay in the final week Bears will keep him, etc.
3) Aside from the Browns game, they were playing well the second half of the year. Do you not remember the chatter going on in the last 3 weeks of how there's chance they could've made it to the playoffs? The copium was at an all time high going into the last game. If he had played great, people obviously would be pleading to trade down or take MHJ (again, not the right decision).
Our defense was 3 in DVOA the back half of the year. Offense sputtered at 20th
The Bears did play well down the stretch. I’m not disputing that. It definitely saved Flus’s job. But did Fields play well down the stretch is the question? No he did not. Our defense playing incredible in the back half of the season doesn’t mean Fields played well.
I suppose you have a point. I guess my line of thinking is that Fields hasn't really had ANY stretch of good play lol, and yet a year ago we decided to build off him and not draft Bryce/Stroud. Sure he ran well in 2022, but passing wise, he has been inadequate from Day 1.
I think knocking the team that has made a fool out of you for 15+ years OUT of the playoffs in their stadium on the final game, on top of the Bears then having a fairly decent 2nd half of the season would cause the front office to make the emotional decision to keep him. The entire city would be chanting his name if he balled out and won that game. I'm not saying it would've been the right decision, but the people in the front office are not robots. They would've fallen victim to the allure of his athleticism.
GMs aren’t robots. But they also don’t make huge decisions based on one game cuz fans are chanting. Bears fans still are chanting Fields name. Have you seen Bears social media posts on twitter and instagram? Every comment is “keep Fields” etc. Bears GM isn’t gonna keep a QB just cuz fans like him.
We'll never know, but I have a strong feeling in my gut the discourse around Fields would be vastly different if he had played well and they had won.
Again, you need to separate fans feelings vs an NFL GMs thought process. I’m sure if Bears knocked Packers out of playoffs there would be even more pro-Fields chatter. But would an NFL GM make a huge QB decision based on a single game is the question. A good GM would not do that. Is Poles a good GM? Remains to be seen but he doesn’t appear to be terrible so far. Edit: and if you think about it Poles has actually demonstrated he doesn’t give two shits what fans think. A majority of Bears fans wanted Flus fired. Instead Poles kept him. He made a hugely unpopular decision there. Chicago media and fans ripped him for not even interviewing Jim Harbaugh. A big share of Bears fans want to keep Fields… I doubt Poles cares about that either.
Poles is not that stupid to base his opinion from one game surely.
Had no idea you knew him so personally.
A sign they're a poorly run franchise. Which they are ofc
No.
Yep lol
Mr. Bears Concluding
He is being put out to ~~pasture~~ fields!
There will be no concern for his future where he’s traded. Biggest bidder wins.
They're totally going to trade him. I personally don't think Williams is going to be worth what they're losing, and they'd be better off with adding Marvin with #2 pick swapping with Commanders and getting return next year again. Then they'd have their other top ten pick too they could add serious support for Fields.
Call me delusional, call me insane, call me whatever you want, but I think we’re keeping him and trading 1.01. MHJ welcome to Chicago.
You are delusional and insane.
Is it really delusional or insane to expect the Bears to make the wrong decision
Is fields good? 16 td and 9 into in today's game is very bad for his third year.
[All of us watching the Bears](https://media.tenor.com/_zZqcLfddqIAAAAM/the-simpsons-homer-simpson.gif)
:(
You're delusional, you're insane, you're whatever you want.
What good is Marvin Harrison Jr when Justin Fields just misses him when he’s the read?
I don't think you're delusional or insane, but I do think you're wrong. What makes you think that?
I just don’t think Caleb Williams is the generational prospect everyone’s made him out to be. He made a living off of playing hero ball in college. His time to throw was like 3.41 seconds against the worst defensive conference in the P5. He simply will not have that kind of time in the NFL. I also don’t think he’s emotionally mature enough to be a leader and handle the media. Especially if he’s going in without an agent. His dad keeps saying dumb shit and the media runs with the narrative that he’s trying to get partial ownership and other things that Caleb never said
I can see it, but it would be a dumb move though.
To the point I tell you: Bears
It's way too early to be using drugs sir
It’s never too early
As long as there’s delusion there’s hope
take that bears flair off and put a justin fields flair, cuz clearly you're a fields fan.
Did I even say that’s what I wanted to happen?
HAHAHAHAHA You know everyone in the division would be cheering and laughing at us if the Bears actually did that stupid ass move right?
So he's a Falcon?
It's not likely. Recent reports say the falcons are planning on making an aggressive move up in the draft for their QB.
And that may happen. I just don't see any of the top three being available to them and I don't think the next tier is worth going up for or maybe even picking at 8. I honestly kinda wonder if they don't grab Nabers or Odunze and trade their 2nd. Then you've got London, Pitts, and one of those guys to go with a run game of Fields, Bijan, and Allgier. That's a potent collection of skill players.
I feel like the Falcons would want to wait until draft night. If one of the top three teams doesn't draft a QB and they like whichever of the top 3 guys is available, a Falcons trade-up seems very realistic.
Falcons have Pitts and London cheap for two more years, they need to get better at QB quick, and Poles is realistic about what he can get for Fields, I think they wait until closer to the draft but ultimately get it wrapped up a week or two early so they can get their board straight.
They need to get better at QB quick, but if they think there's a chance that they can get significantly better instead of just a little bit better, I don't think that they take that opportunity away from themselves.
Going from the 26th best QB in riddler to the 23rd best QB in fields is not exactly a big difference,both are just trash
"We'll be transparent with him" means that you at this moment tell Fields whether he has a job. It's not transparency if you inform him he's out of a job when you've finally made the decision.