If Chicago ends up with a bottom two record, does Fields get traded?

[JAF-N72EX]

12 hours ago, ClutchDJ said:

The consensus seems to be Chicago will bottom out with a bottom 3 record this year with some even saying they’ll be the worst.

 

With that said, do you think this could be a similar situation to Rosen? Does Chicago go for Bryce Young or CJ Stroud next year?

*Sigh....... @ET80 I know you are probably out of breath by now like I am, but will you please tell this guy once again that wins are NOT a QB stat?

Anyways, as bears fan, here is where I stand on this.

The OP's question ultimately comes down to whether or not the new regime truly believes in Fields or not, and it's a legitimate question.

First of all, I know some might say "Poles chose the Bears so obviously he believes in Fields" but it's not that simple either. See the op's example of Rosen and he's right on that part (I've been using the same example).

Second of all, the new GM Poles didn't choose Fields.....he inherited him.  Fields was chosen by the former GM Pace.  I say that to say this. It seems like Poles wants to get rid of everyone who has any ties to the last regime whatsoever and replace them with his own, even if it means destroying everything in order to build from the ground up. Right or wrong. And Fields is no exception to this rule.

All that said, here is how I see it.

2022 - New regime. If Fields plays horrible with a terribly stripped roster, severely lacking talent, then we still don't know if Fields is the answer or not.  Is it Fields himself, the coaching staff, the supporting cast, or is it a combo? I've been fighting with Bears fans over this same concept all offseason because I wanted to see poles use cap money to surround Fields with the best talent he could find so that we could find out if Fields was the answer or not in year 2 and not have to wait. Needless to say, that didn't happen. That said, if Fields plays well, despite the scraps he has been giving, then he deserves a big praise for it and so does the staff because that would mean all of them did a tremendous job (all meaning Fields and the staff). This would take us into year 3. 

2023 - Start of a major rebuild with a ton cap to spend on supporting cast, but we're still missing some talent at certain depth and key starting positions since Poles can't fix everything in one year. This is the most important year for Fields. If Fields fails after the building around him then it's time to move on. But if Field balls out then Poles will also need to make a big decision in the postseason since this will be his only chance to pick up a 5th year option or not. If he doesn't then Poles clearly doesn't believe in him. Unless he extends him. Which would be even more stupid to pay a QB big money who only had 1 good year with a good supporting cast after following 2 lack luster years where he couldn't elevate the players around him. I hate it when teams do this and it's been proven to come back and haunt them in the long run (see Goff, Cam and Wentz for recent examples).

2024 - Roster should be looking up. Fields either gets a huge extension by now or Poles def tells us, and Fields, that he doesn't believe in him and we finally get the real truth out of him for once.

Bottomline, if Fields is bad this year then I won't blame him. If he's good in 2023, then Poles had better exercise the 5th year. But extending a guy after 1 good year and 2 bad/mediocre years would be an extremely dumb decision in the long run. If Fields still isn't improving by the end of 2023 then stay put and don't do anything.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by JAF-N72EX

[ET80]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

*Sigh....... @ET80 I know you are probably out of breath by now like I am, but will you please tell this guy once again that wins are NOT a QB stat?

I gotcha, boss.

13 hours ago, ClutchDJ said:

The consensus seems to be Chicago will bottom out with a bottom 3 record this year with some even saying they’ll be the worst.

 

With that said, do you think this could be a similar situation to Rosen? Does Chicago go for Bryce Young or CJ Stroud next year?

Wins ain’t a QB stat, boss.

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

*Sigh....... @ET80 I know you are probably out of breath by now like I am, but will you please tell this guy once again that wins are NOT a QB stat?

 

Even if wins aren't a QB stat I don't see many scenarios that the Bears are the worst team in the NFL that don't also include Fields being borderline horrible.

[squire12]

6 hours ago, Blue said:

This is a silly question. How many QBs on rookie contracts have "led" their team to a top-3 draft pick and panned out as good players? We're not talking about guys like Matthew Stafford who got hurt and missed a chunk of the season, as I'm assuming Fields (reasonably) gets a pass if he's hurt and not playing part of the year.

Manning earned pick 4 after rookie year

Brees earned pick 5 after rookie year

[NYRaider]

6 minutes ago, squire12 said:

Manning earned pick 4 after rookie year

Brees earned pick 5 after rookie year

Brees didn't even play as a rookie, he went 8-8 during his second season (first year starting). 

[KingOfNewYork]

7 hours ago, Forge said:

He said if he's good you move on with him. 

He just likes arguing with me 

[Blue]

7 hours ago, brownie man said:

I don’t think Carolina and Detroit belong in this conversation at this point. The Bears roster is truly putrid specifically on the offensive side. It’s the least talented offense in the league for sure, and I’m a Mooney fan. 

DK, Pitts, TJ Hock, Mccaffrey, DJ Moore, Lockett these are all real nfl players. Chicago is counting on Nkeal Harry to play a major role. It’s just horrible what they’ve laid out for Fields. Irresponsible to be honest. Maybe it works but right now it looks awful 

 

 

7 hours ago, NYRaider said:

Detroit could be pretty decent this season assuming Jameo gets healthy and the Panthers have a good group of skill position players and a top tier defense, they just need one of Baker/Darnold to be at least average while CMac stays on the field. 

I can't fathom how anyone looks at Detroit's roster and doesn't see a bottom-five team. They have one of the most barren defensive depth charts in the league and while I think Jared Goff is a better player than most give him credit for, he's not elevating the middling talent at receiver or uninspiring play at running back. Chicago has multiple starters on defense who are better than anyone Detroit has. At worst, any talent difference between these teams is negligible.

I don't think either of you are taking into account just how outclassed Matt Rhule has been as a head coach. That team had an inside track to a playoff spot and lost 7 straight games to end the season, including a blowout against Miami and a loss to Atlanta coming off a bye. They lost by three touchdowns to the Giants, a team that couldn't put the ball in the endzone if you handed it to them five yards deep. If you think Baker Mayfield is magically elevating an offense that finished 30th in YPG and 29th in PPG last year, Cleveland fans have some bad news for you. McCaffrey has been a total non-factor for two years, anything they get from him is a bonus and everyone knows it. It's time to stop expecting him to be a difference-maker week to week, let alone across a full season.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Blue

[ET80]

5 hours ago, NYRaider said:

Even if wins aren't a QB stat I don't see many scenarios that the Bears are the worst team in the NFL that don't also include Fields being borderline horrible.

Eh… I could see it. Green Bay and Minnesota pretty much mean 0-4 for Chicago, Detroit is probably a toss up and an AFCE/NFCE draw probably doesn’t have many wins in it (Jets, maybe? Dolphins if a LOT goes right? Giants is a coin toss given the talent?)

It’s not the hardest schedule in football, but wins are going to be tough to get.

[AkronsWitness]

How about they Bears try to give at least the bare minimum effort into surrounding him with talent before cutting bait on his entire career.

You cant surround your young QB talent with a terrible OL and C- level playmakers and then turn around and blame him on why they arnt averaging 34 points per game.

Edited July 29, 2022 by AkronsWitness

[ThatJerkDave]

19 hours ago, ClutchDJ said:

The consensus seems to be Chicago will bottom out with a bottom 3 record this year with some even saying they’ll be the worst.

 

Let me stop you right there!

 

The Bears are the worst no matter what the record says.  

 

 

[NYRaider]

30 minutes ago, Blue said:

I can't fathom how anyone looks at Detroit's roster and doesn't see a bottom-five team. They have one of the most barren defensive depth charts in the league and while I think Jared Goff is a better player than most give him credit for, he's not elevating the middling talent at receiver or uninspiring play at running back. Chicago has multiple starters on defense who are better than anyone Detroit has. At worst, any talent difference between these teams is negligible.

I don't think either of you are taking into account just how outclassed Matt Rhule has been as a head coach. That team had an inside track to a playoff spot and lost 7 straight games to end the season, including a blowout against Miami and a loss to Atlanta coming off a bye. They lost by three touchdowns to the Giants, a team that couldn't put the ball in the endzone if you handed it to them five yards deep. If you think Baker Mayfield is magically elevating an offense that finished 30th in YPG and 29th in PPG last year, Cleveland fans have some bad news for you. McCaffrey has been a total non-factor for two years, anything they get from him is a bonus and everyone knows it. It's time to stop expecting him to be a difference-maker week to week, let alone across a full season.

ARSB was excellent as a rookie, Jameo looks like the best rookie WR coming into the league (whenever he's healthy), and Chark has been a 1,000+ yard guy. Swift is viewed as one of the most promising young RB's in the league and Hockenson is viewed as an emerging top tier TE. There's literally not a single team in the NFL that would take the Bears skill position group over the Lions group. 

Sam Darnold was also god awful, if Baker is even average it makes a significant difference.

[ClutchDJ]

6 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

*Sigh....... @ET80 I know you are probably out of breath by now like I am, but will you please tell this guy once again that wins are NOT a QB stat?

Anyways, as bears fan, here is where I stand on this.

The OP's question ultimately comes down to whether or not the new regime truly believes in Fields or not, and it's a legitimate question.

First of all, I know some might say "Poles chose the Bears so obviously he believes in Fields" but it's not that simple either. See the op's example of Rosen and he's right on that part (I've been using the same example).

Second of all, the new GM Poles didn't choose Fields.....he inherited him.  Fields was chosen by the former GM Pace.  I say that to say this. It seems like Poles wants to get rid of everyone who has any ties to the last regime whatsoever and replace them with his own, even if it means destroying everything in order to build from the ground up. Right or wrong. And Fields is no exception to this rule.

All that said, here is how I see it.

2022 - New regime. If Fields plays horrible with a terribly stripped roster, severely lacking talent, then we still don't know if Fields is the answer or not.  Is it Fields himself, the coaching staff, the supporting cast, or is it a combo? I've been fighting with Bears fans over this same concept all offseason because I wanted to see poles use cap money to surround Fields with the best talent he could find so that we could find out if Fields was the answer or not in year 2 and not have to wait. Needless to say, that didn't happen. That said, if Fields plays well, despite the scraps he has been giving, then he deserves a big praise for it and so does the staff because that would mean all of them did a tremendous job (all meaning Fields and the staff). This would take us into year 3. 

2023 - Start of a major rebuild with a ton cap to spend on supporting cast, but we're still missing some talent at certain depth and key starting positions since Poles can't fix everything in one year. This is the most important year for Fields. If Fields fails after the building around him then it's time to move on. But if Field balls out then Poles will also need to make a big decision in the postseason since this will be his only chance to pick up a 5th year option or not. If he doesn't then Poles clearly doesn't believe in him. Unless he extends him. Which would be even more stupid to pay a QB big money who only had 1 good year with a good supporting cast after following 2 lack luster years where he couldn't elevate the players around him. I hate it when teams do this and it's been proven to come back and haunt them in the long run (see Goff, Cam and Wentz for recent examples).

2024 - Roster should be looking up. Fields either gets a huge extension by now or Poles def tells us, and Fields, that he doesn't believe in him and we finally get the real truth out of him for once.

Bottomline, if Fields is bad this year then I won't blame him. If he's good in 2023, then Poles had better exercise the 5th year. But extending a guy after 1 good year and 2 bad/mediocre years would be an extremely dumb decision in the long run. If Fields still isn't improving by the end of 2023 then stay put and don't do anything.

 

I never said wins are a QB stat. However, give me an example of where a team picked #1 overall despite getting at least solid play from the QB the whole season?

[NYRaider]

11 minutes ago, AkronsWitness said:

How about they Bears try to give at least the bare minimum effort into surrounding him with talent before cutting bait on his entire career.

You cant surround your young QB talent with a terrible OL and C- level playmakers and then turn around and blame him on why they arnt averaging 34 points per game.

They have Mooney, Montgomery, and Kmet. The 3 headed monster.

[ThatJerkDave]

21 minutes ago, ET80 said:

Eh… I could see it. Green Bay and Minnesota pretty much mean 0-4 for Chicago, Detroit is probably a toss up and an AFCE/NFCE draw probably doesn’t have many wins in it (Jets, maybe? Dolphins if a LOT goes right? Giants is a coin toss given the talent?)

It’s not the hardest schedule in football, but wins are going to be tough to get.

I only give them a chance in games against:  Houston, Jets, Giants, Atlanta, and maybe Miami (I am really not buying the hype here) and Washington.  

Detroit, despite having the Goof at QB, has some nice pieces, and shouldn't be seen as a pushover.  Especially to a team like the Bears.  

 

Now, I am a one million percent biased Packers fan.  I hate the Bears.  But being objective as I can, the Bears are not in a good place right now.  I don't think it is at all out of line to expect them to finish with a top 5 pick... do they have picks this year?

[AkronsWitness]

30 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

They have Mooney, Montgomery, and Kmet. The 3 headed monster.

Exactly so they have two WR3s, a replacement level RB who should be in a timeshare and a young unproven TE. Oh, and a Offensive Line that is largely viewed as bottom 3 in the NFL.

"So why isnt Fields throwing for 4,200 yards and 35 TDs again? What the hell is wrong with him"

All of these other young guys like Tua, Lock, Baker, Daniel Jones, Herbert, Burrow, ect have been surrounded with good talent to see if they can succeed. Justin Fields is working with a entire offense of XFL players and some are questioning why he hasnt looked great. Cmon

Edited July 29, 2022 by AkronsWitness