Bears quarterback Justin Fields emerged as one of the NFL’s most exciting young players last season, where he made defenses pay with his impressive athleticism.
Fields was the one of the lone bright spots in Chicago’s disappointing 3-14 season, and he managed to find success despite being surrounded by arguably the worst roster in the league. But things are looking up as the Bears are slated to have roughly $99 million in salary cap space and the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
Unfortunately, one of the downsides — perhaps the only one — of having the top pick is having to deal with the Fields trade chatter. Even though Chicago has shown no indication that they’re considering moving on from Fields.
One NFL coach summed it up best when he discussed Fields’ upside with ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler:
“[The Bears] had no business being in some of the games they were in this year — that was because of Fields.”
The great quarterbacks can overcome roster deficiencies. Fields seems to have that element, even if he needs more polish as a pocket passer.
Fields carried the offense on his back — technically, legs — where he rushed for 1,143 yards, falling just 64 yards shy of Lamar Jackson’s single-season rushing record. Fields did make NFL history with 178 yards against the Dolphins, the most ever by a quarterback in a regular season game.
While Fields certainly needs to improve as a passer, he’s shown enough in his first two seasons to warrant a true evaluation.
Yes, Bears general manager Ryan Poles will do his homework on quarterbacks Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Will Levis in the pre-draft process. But that doesn’t mean Chicago is moving on from Fields.
