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Following a poor performance against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football, the national consensus is that the time has come for the Chicago Bears to begin planning the succession of quarterback Justin Fields.
During the Tuesday, November 28 edition of ESPN’s First Take, sports analyst and Hall-of-Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe said he would seek to replace Fields via the 2024 NFL Draft were the decision his to make.
.@ShannonSharpe says the Bears should take Caleb Williams in the NFL draft 👀
“I’m taking Caleb Williams if I get the number one overall pick,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe wasn’t alone in his opinion, which was echoed by another former NFL player in Dominique Foxworth on the ESPN morning show Get Up.
“You gotta take a quarterback [in the NFL Draft],” Foxworth said. “You gotta move on from Justin Fields.”
Justin Fields Continues to Display Desirable Skill Set, Carry Significant Trade Value
GettyQuarterback Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears scrambles during an NFL game against the Minnesota Vikings in November 2023.
Fields showed off his escapability early in the game against the Vikings, rolling out of the pocket away from pressure and completing passes down the field. The third-year QB also displayed the mobility that has made him such an intriguing prospect since the 2021 NFL Draft, rushing 12 times for 59 yards.
However, he averaged just 5.9 yards per pass attempt, took 3 sacks and lost 2 fumbles in a 12-10 victory that the Bears edged out on the strength of a late fourth-quarter drive. It was the first time in 30 years that Chicago won a game in which its offense failed to produce a touchdown.
For the season, Fields has completed 64.4% of his passes for 12 TDs and 6 INTs across eight starts, per Pro Football Reference. He has rushed the ball 77 times for 400 yards and 1 score. The Bears are 4-8 on the year, and Fields has a career record of 7-26 as an NFL starter.
Despite Fields’ struggles to make a significant leap as a passer in 2023, he remains only 24 years old and has the athleticism to make him an attractive trade target for the half of the league or so that will be looking for an upgrade at quarterback in the offseason.
If Fields can show a bit more of an ability to successfully read defenses, push the ball downfield through the air and protect the football, Chicago may be able to trade him for first-round value. In any case, he won’t go for worse than a second-round pick given his $6 million cap hit in 2024 and a team option on a salary-controlled fifth season in 2025.
Bears Can’t Afford to Miss on Generational QB in 2nd Straight Draft
GettyChicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus (left) and GM Ryan Poles (right).
Chicago spent a first-round pick to acquire Fields in 2021 (No. 11 overall), though that was the decision of a previous management and coaching regime. The quarterback’s rushing prowess from the position in 2022 led the way for MVP predictions ahead of this season, as several analysts projected Fields would take a third-year leap as a passer in his second campaign with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, though that widespread prediction has not panned out.
General manager Ryan Poles chose to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft to the Carolina Panthers and give Fields an unencumbered third year to grow into a franchise quarterback. The merits of that deal can be argued, but the Bears acquired their top wide receiver in D.J. Moore as a part of that trade as well as the Panthers’ top pick in 2024, which is currently the No. 1 overall selection.
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin on Monday authored a deep dive into the decision Poles and the rest of the Bears front office face at the quarterback spot — particularly given the depth of talent at the position in this year’s class, Fields’ struggles in 2023 and the team’s choice to forego a chance to select MVP candidate C.J. Stroud back in April.
Poles said he would have to be “blown away” by Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, the top two quarterbacks taken in the draft, to move on from Bears quarterback Justin Fields ahead of his third season. While Young has struggled on a 1-10 Panthers team, Stroud may one day be looked at as the one who got away.
The Bears don’t want to miss out on another Stroud. Poles and his scouting staff have watched Williams and [Drake] Maye in person during the 2023 season, along with other top quarterbacks (such as Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy) and will weigh their evaluation against what they see as Fields’ ceiling. ESPN contacted eight NFL scouts and executives who said Williams is the can’t-miss prospect.
Poles could be on the hot seat himself as early as next season, as questions continue to swirl around the future of Bears head coach Matt Eberflus following a 7-22 start to his tenure in Chicago.
That renders next year’s decision at QB paramount not only for the current leadership’s blueprint in the Windy City, but for its continued employment there beyond 2024.
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Calls for Bears to Dump Justin Fields Ring Out After Vikings Game