Justin Fields traded to Pittsburgh

[dll2000]

This is representative of soooo many tweets I am seeing from the Fields isn’t really being traded crowd today.  

“Caleb has to be Mahomes times 10 in rookie year or I was right.”

So many people are borderline unhinged.  It’s football people.

 

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

Well, goodbye sweet prince.

Very sad it worked out the way it did.  The compensation is shockingly low and I was lower on that than most of you.  That said, I'm glad it's done, and that he's going to a decent spot and let's hope it's his forever home and all that.  It would have been weird and ugly (uglier) for the team and the fans if he was still here come training camp.

Not Poles best move, but not his worst move.  If Caleb or whoever works out we won't care. 

[Sugashane]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

This is representative of soooo many tweets I am seeing from the Fields isn’t really being traded crowd today.  

“Caleb has to be Mahomes times 10 in rookie year or I was right.”

So many people are borderline unhinged.  It’s football people.

 

I love these inane demands by people with nothing to do with the franchise to others who also have nothing to do with the franchise. The hell are the fans going to do? Soldier Field sells out no matter how trash the Bears played, so there's no pressure of becoming the NFLs Athletics.

But wait, I forgot Virginia might get pissed. 🙄

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW said:

If Caleb or whoever works out we won't care. 

The only part of this that really matters. 

[dll2000]

Exactly my point from earlier.  

[dll2000]

 

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

 

But how many made an offer? Anything short of that is irrelevant. 

[dll2000]

16 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

But how many made an offer? Anything short of that is irrelevant. 

I dunno.   Let me know if you find out.  But what’s done is done.  Still curious.

[StLunatic88]

35 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

But how many made an offer? Anything short of that is irrelevant. 

None of them made an actionable offer from what I’ve gathered

Sounds like Atlanta was the plan all along, it’s what the “right by Justin” comment was about. But they made it clear that they were making a run at Cousins first, and 3 weeks ago no one thought they really had a chance, but for whatever reason, Minnesota just never really came to the table.

And I believe the people that told me it was expected to be the “one this year and a future conditional pick or two” because Atlanta was ready to pick up the 5YO (just look at what they gave Kirk), but now it seems they were the only ones who were ready to commit to that money. No one else would, which then makes him a 1 year competition at best, and a backup for most of them.

Thats going to change the outlook of the market drastically. 

[anonymousGM]

14 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

I think that’s Moore saying “I have made my thoughts clear on JF and I don’t have to like it, but I get it.” There’s no big conspiracy here.

Return is what it is - the entire league knew we were trading him (clear now that Poles himself acknowledged in the team statement that he’d been having convos for a few weeks), and when time is in the trade partner’s favor they own the market.

Fields has been incredibly exciting to watch, but at the same time it’s been clear for months that this was going to be Caleb’s team starting in 2024. I hope Justin goes off in PIT. He deserves better than the hand he was dealt here.

With all of that - I couldn’t be more glad that this is over and done with. It feels like I can finally enjoy the beginning of the Williams era. 

I know you are getting support from the most of the forum on this. But now that Justin is officially off the Bears I really don't mind expressing how frustrating he is as a player/prospect and my dislike for him. Robotic in the way he navigates the pocket and reads the defense, elongated throwing motion, takes too many unnecessary hits. I was not excited when we drafted him and really was never excited watching him run around like a Madden QB while the team continued to lose games. I bought into his potential and rooted for the guy, but it was always clear to me that he wasn't a franchise QB no matter how badly fans wanted him to be one. His fault or not you can't get by in the NFL off of athleticism alone. If this were MLB I think his wins above replacement would be average at best.

Everyone is acting like his rookie season was a wash and that the Bears handed him the keys to Mitch Trubisky's used Camry or something, this is incredibly bad logic. Nagy and Pace traded up and hand picked him to run their offense and he got to sit the first half of the season. We have always had at least average talent on offense the whole time he's been here (never elite) but a great QB should be able to make the team around him better. Nagy's scheme wasn't the best and felt gimmicky and relied on WR's and QB's reading the defense mid-play with motion and option routes which isn't ideal and its why he got fired.

In 2023, Justin already had a full year in the same system with prior experience as a starter and a brand new proven #1 WR, an established #1 TE, good running backs, and an offensive line that looks like will have 4/5 starters carrying over to 2024. We were supposed to see significant growth and we didn't get it.

I'm glad that this is the last time I have to type his name into my computer

[Bowler1215]

6 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

But how many made an offer? Anything short of that is irrelevant. 

I heard Philly did.  I guess when Poles said he 'wanted to do right by Fields' he meant the place he'd end up.  Maybe a 4th or 5th was on the table just not for a team that would fit JF?

I though Fields played well after his injury last year, a lot of fans wanted him around.  The 'We want Fields' chants at the ATL game.  The FA moves seemed to be either for Fields or Williams.  Now we know. 

I still feel 50/50 about JF being traded.  Like I said, I thought he played well enough to be on our roster this upcoming season.  But he's never played a full season and has never beaten the packers.  Surprising Trubisky is the last Bears QB to do that.  As we all know Fields was in a tough spot.  Would this move have happened if we didn't have the #1 overall pick?  Whos to say.  I wish Fields the best and hope he has a nice long career

[anonymousGM]

3 hours ago, Bowler1215 said:

I heard Philly did.  I guess when Poles said he 'wanted to do right by Fields' he meant the place he'd end up.  Maybe a 4th or 5th was on the table just not for a team that would fit JF?

I though Fields played well after his injury last year, a lot of fans wanted him around.  The 'We want Fields' chants at the ATL game.  The FA moves seemed to be either for Fields or Williams.  Now we know. 

I still feel 50/50 about JF being traded.  Like I said, I thought he played well enough to be on our roster this upcoming season.  But he's never played a full season and has never beaten the packers.  Surprising Trubisky is the last Bears QB to do that.  As we all know Fields was in a tough spot.  Would this move have happened if we didn't have the #1 overall pick?  Whos to say.  I wish Fields the best and hope he has a nice long career

Makes sense that his agent wanted Poles to send him someplace where he could compete to be a starter.

But really, as a fan of the Bears you don't have to support this guy anymore. Fields was not in a tougher spot than any other rookie top-10 pick QB gets put into around the league. Was it perfect? No. Basic fans got too caught up in the athleticism and the persona that they are overlooking the pitfalls of his game. He throws a very tight spiral and the ball travels at a low, powerful trajectory. He has strides like a cheetah and seems to glide down the field. Every throw he made independant of the result of the play, where it landed, if the reciever caught it or not was very beautiful. It almost felt as if he was trying to make the perfect throw every time without thinking about how the reciever is supposed to catch it. It was everything else that was just alittle bit off. The timing, rhythm, release, accuracy and other little details are what was missing and those are the exact things that you can't measure in football

I'm trying to recognize where I misjudge a prospect as a football evaluator because its going to sharpen my mind when I focus on the next round of prospects. Justin is a top-32 quarterback in the world and that's pretty damn good. I think the floor on Justin has been the same all along since he was drafted it's just that the ceiling was put too high. From what I've seen very rarely does a player reinvent himself moving from college to the NFL. Generally the strengths they had in college are the same in the NFL, it just magnifies their weaknesses.

Regarding Justin's running style... It's really not sustainable for a franchise QB. Even going back to his college tape at OSU he took too many big hits. Watching him on the Bears it's evident that the trend continued. He has a great slide, but he does it at the last possible second which gets him into trouble. Throwing on the run is difficult when your in a full sprint which he often attempted to do.

What I've seen from Caleb Williams is that he knows how to avoid contact and adapts his progressions to the other players around him. He's not gonna bust out 80 yard runs like Justin, but he's still gonna get lots of yards running and not take as many hits. He plays from the pocket first and has more natural tendencies and throws a more catchable ball. The intangibles are so important and this is what made the Justin Fields debate so difficult to have.

 

[dll2000]

For all the hurt Fields fans of which there are many.  I am not saying that last flippantly.   I understand their hurt is real.  

Poles did try do right by him in end.  He didn’t have to.  One could argue his greater duty is to team, but he did it anyway. It is nice to see some humanity in a brutal arena.

I will add. While I feel bad for Fields I also feel bad for the bottom of roster guys that get screwed all the time by situations out of their control and never made millions.   That have little other job skills and poured their life into their dream and fell a little short.  

And for millions of people in other professions that have same thing happen.  That struggle with mean bosses, or getting a job at all.   Life is hard.  All of our lives are very hard at times.  From the very rich to the very poor.  We all go through trials.  We all have loved ones that get sick and die. 

This is entertainment, but the people are real.  I wish Fields the best.   

[dafreak]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

For all the hurt Fields fans of which there are many.  I am not saying that last flippantly.   I understand their hurt is real.  

Poles did try do right by him in end.  He didn’t have to.  One could argue his greater duty is to team, but he did it anyway. It is nice to see some humanity in a brutal arena.

I will add. While I feel bad for Fields I also feel bad for the bottom of roster guys that get screwed all the time by situations out of their control and never made millions.   That have little other job skills and poured their life into their dream and fell a little short.  

And for millions of people in other professions that have same thing happen.  That struggle with mean bosses, or getting a job at all.   Life is hard.  All of our lives are very hard at times.  From the very rich to the very poor.  We all go through trials.  We all have loved ones that get sick and die. 

This is entertainment, but the people are real.  I wish Fields the best.   

Amen. Justin Fields is a good human being and it appears Ryan Poles is too. The perception of Poles by others is much more valuable then a higher draft pick. I hope Justin tears it up in Pittsburgh, would be a great story.

Edited March 18 by dafreak

[chisoxguy7]

12 hours ago, anonymousGM said:

But really, as a fan of the Bears you don't have to support this guy anymore.

Are you really suggesting that anyone here is doing it out of a sense of obligation, and not just liking either A) the player, or B) the human being, and wanting a successful outcome for that person? Framing it as a negative thing? Is that really what we're doing here?