Anyone who watched the Chicago Bears play football in 2022 will tell you that the only thing they had going for them was Justin Fields… That’s it.
The rest of the team was an utter embarrassment. Their offensive line couldn’t block for the life of them. The receivers couldn’t catch a cold. And the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed. It all pretty much explains why they finished in dead-last, which earned them the first overall pick in the 2023 Draft.
Of course, when it became official that they would be awarded the first overall pick for their league-leading crappiness, many wondered whether they would stick with Fields — who had just rushed for 1,143 yards and 8 touchdowns in 15 games — or draft one of the top signal-callers from the 2023 class.
Most through the Bears had made their decision on the quarterback position when they traded the first overall pick to the Carolina Panthers, but according to the NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, we could be in for a surprise if a certain scenario plays out at the draft in a few weeks.
During a recent appearance on the “Move The Sticks” Podcast, Jeremiah pointed out that if one of the top four quarterbacks (most likely Anthony Richardson) falls to them at the number nine spot, the Bears could consider taking them and ‘resetting their quarterback clock.’
Reset the quarterback clock by two years, so you buy two years to be able to live off of a rookie deal. The roster is gonna be in much better shape for a quarterback incoming than it was for Justin Fields when he started his career, so if you’re trying to maximize that five-year window on that rookie contract, you’ve reset it, you’ve got a larger window, you’ve got a better team than you did two years ago, you’re going to have to pay Justin here coming up before the team is really, really good and ready to win, you extend that period out. You could then trade Justin and get some draft capital in return. I don’t know what that would look like. Worst-case scenario you’re getting a two, maybe you get a future 1. You already have all these extra picks, you’ve already picked up D.J. Moore, we’ve reset the quarterback clock, we get extra picks for Justin Fields.
Now, I know in Chicago with the fan base, they’ve grown attached to Justin and Justin’s done some fun things to watch with what he’s done with his legs and glimpses and flashes with his arm. But [Bucky Brooks], I’m telling you, man, has he done enough to not even consider this? Maybe they don’t do it, but I guarantee you this discussion and this scenario has to take place. Tell me I’m crazy.
Jeremiah points out that Justin Fields will be due for an extension soon, right around the time when the Bears could be competitive again. That means they’ll likely encounter some cap issues at that point, which could make it difficult to remain competitive over the long run. Much of this has to do with the fact that the Bears were an awful team when they drafted Fields.
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But if they take a quarterback in the draft this year, they’ll give their new signal-caller a much better roster to begin with than what Fields got. And chances are they could become competitive well before a guy like Anthony Richardson is due for a lucrative contract extension.
This seems to be the new mentality that’s taking over the NFL — the idea that, unless you have a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, you’re probably better off taking your chance on a rookie and saving that valuable cap space for the rest of your roster.
Of course, in order for the Bears to even consider this route, they would need one of the top quarterbacks to fall to them. And based on every mock draft we’ve seen over the last month or so, it is highly doubtful that happens.
So this could all be a moot point. We’ll find out on April 27.
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