The pundits say next year is Fields' last season with the Bears and they will take a QB with the #1 pick from the NC Panthers because after next season Fields' becomes REALLY REALLY expensive to keep while any new guy will be on a fixed 3 year contract.
Yeah, but if the Bears do that, they will never see another Super Bowl.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!
George,
So you are arguing that because Fields is young (24 years old I think) he can get substantially more reliable in performance? When he is at his best he is clearly very good. But he needs to put together whole games at his best. And apparently has not been able to (yet) do that.
Is he currently worth being VERY expensive? I don't know. Could he be? Certainly. So which way is his Coach and the Team Owner going to bet?
So can the Bears afford the number one pick and keep Fields for another year too? That would give Fields a chance to become consistently better. But give the Bears the best fallback they can get.
Only the future knows. But as usual, "it depends" :)
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
The pundits say next year is Fields' last season with the Bears and they will take a QB with the #1 pick from the NC Panthers because after next season Fields' becomes REALLY REALLY expensive to keep while any new guy will be on a fixed 3 year contract.
Yeah, but if the Bears do that, they will never see another Super Bowl.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!
George,
So you are arguing that because Fields is young (24 years old I think) he can get substantially more reliable in performance? When he is at his best he is clearly very good. But he needs to put together whole games at his best. And apparently has not been able to (yet) do that.
Is he currently worth being VERY expensive? I don't know. Could he be? Certainly. So which way is his Coach and the Team Owner going to bet?
So can the Bears afford the number one pick and keep Fields for another year too? That would give Fields a chance to become consistently better. But give the Bears the best fallback they can get.
Only the future knows. But as usual, "it depends" :)
Tom M
That last part is exactly what the pundits are saying will happen, give Fields one more year to prove he is worth the money but also take a QB #1 and hedge your bets in case he doesn't. Even if he doesn't someone like Denver will need a QB they think can make them better and Fields could be the guy under the right QB or Head coach, The Bears staff has down what they can with him but he still isn't consistent enough to be worth, right now, the hundreds of millions of dollars an extension of his contract would be worth. The problem is the NFL is not about loyalty anymore, it's a business with lots of investors who want a return on their investment or they will want to sell.
The Washington team HAD to be sold because the former owner had a stick up is yada yada and decided he knew better than anyone else and had to buy out the minority investors or the Team had to be sold, he did that with money borrowed from the NFL with a mandatory payback time limit of the end of next season, he couldn't do that so sold now because he KNEW the Teams value was going down and he couldn't get more money than he did when he sold the team mid season this year!!
The Bears staff has ( EDIT: down - done? ) what they can with him but he still isn't consistent enough to be worth, right now, the hundreds of millions of dollars an extension of his contract would be worth. The problem is the NFL is not about loyalty anymore, it's a business with lots of investors who want a return on their investment or they will want to sell.
Oh yes, I know that the "NFL is not about loyalty anymore". That is true. But has anybody considered that what was the offense Justin Fields had to work with his first two years? It was not until Ryan Poles got a new offense to go with him by selective draft picks in his second year - this year - and Matt Eberflus finally taking over the defensive calling and coaching (he was the defensive coordinator at Indy before he became the coach of the Bears), and Luke Getsy (O.C.) giving Fields more leeway (at Eberflus' urging?) that he has been much more successful.
The Bears can handle giving Fields a big contract next year at the end of his rookie contract with their salary cap still at one of the highest in the league. Of course, that is assuming that they keep the majority of the team that they have now. Also, assuming they do pick a QB for their #1 pick as a backup to Fields, the new QB will have his rookie contract at a much lower level, much like Fields is right now.
So I say: "Keep Fields, pick your #1 QB, and go forward."
As I said before, "That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!"
The Bears staff has ( EDIT: down - done? ) what they can with him but he still isn't consistent enough to be worth, right now, the hundreds of millions of dollars an extension of his contract would be worth. The problem is the NFL is not about loyalty anymore, it's a business with lots of investors who want a return on their investment or they will want to sell.
Oh yes, I know that the "NFL is not about loyalty anymore". That is true. But has anybody considered that what was the offense Justin Fields had to work with his first two years? It was not until Ryan Poles got a new offense to go with him by selective draft picks in his second year - this year - and Matt Eberflus finally taking over the defensive calling and coaching (he was the defensive coordinator at Indy before he became the coach of the Bears), and Luke Getsy (O.C.) giving Fields more leeway (at Eberflus' urging?) that he has been much more successful.
The Bears can handle giving Fields a big contract next year at the end of his rookie contract with their salary cap still at one of the highest in the league. Of course, that is assuming that they keep the majority of the team that they have now. Also, assuming they do pick a QB for their #1 pick as a backup to Fields, the new QB will have his rookie contract at a much lower level, much like Fields is right now.
So I say: "Keep Fields, pick your #1 QB, and go forward."
As I said before, "That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!"
Yup I agree with you too, pick the new guy and give him time to learn the NFL ways in the background while on a rookie contract and put Fields on the field. If Fields works out you have another year or so to keep the new guy in the background OR you have trade bait for either Fields or the new guy. Either way it's a win win for the Bears as either QB will be worth several other players and draft picks that they can hopefully get better with.
GWGeorge007 wrote: mikey
)
George,
So you are arguing that because Fields is young (24 years old I think) he can get substantially more reliable in performance? When he is at his best he is clearly very good. But he needs to put together whole games at his best. And apparently has not been able to (yet) do that.
Is he currently worth being VERY expensive? I don't know. Could he be? Certainly. So which way is his Coach and the Team Owner going to bet?
So can the Bears afford the number one pick and keep Fields for another year too? That would give Fields a chance to become consistently better. But give the Bears the best fallback they can get.
Only the future knows. But as usual, "it depends" :)
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Tom M wrote: GWGeorge007
)
That last part is exactly what the pundits are saying will happen, give Fields one more year to prove he is worth the money but also take a QB #1 and hedge your bets in case he doesn't. Even if he doesn't someone like Denver will need a QB they think can make them better and Fields could be the guy under the right QB or Head coach, The Bears staff has down what they can with him but he still isn't consistent enough to be worth, right now, the hundreds of millions of dollars an extension of his contract would be worth. The problem is the NFL is not about loyalty anymore, it's a business with lots of investors who want a return on their investment or they will want to sell.
The Washington team HAD to be sold because the former owner had a stick up is yada yada and decided he knew better than anyone else and had to buy out the minority investors or the Team had to be sold, he did that with money borrowed from the NFL with a mandatory payback time limit of the end of next season, he couldn't do that so sold now because he KNEW the Teams value was going down and he couldn't get more money than he did when he sold the team mid season this year!!
mikey wrote: The Bears staff
)
Oh yes, I know that the "NFL is not about loyalty anymore". That is true. But has anybody considered that what was the offense Justin Fields had to work with his first two years? It was not until Ryan Poles got a new offense to go with him by selective draft picks in his second year - this year - and Matt Eberflus finally taking over the defensive calling and coaching (he was the defensive coordinator at Indy before he became the coach of the Bears), and Luke Getsy (O.C.) giving Fields more leeway (at Eberflus' urging?) that he has been much more successful.
The Bears can handle giving Fields a big contract next year at the end of his rookie contract with their salary cap still at one of the highest in the league. Of course, that is assuming that they keep the majority of the team that they have now. Also, assuming they do pick a QB for their #1 pick as a backup to Fields, the new QB will have his rookie contract at a much lower level, much like Fields is right now.
So I say: "Keep Fields, pick your #1 QB, and go forward."
As I said before, "That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!"
Proud member of the Old Farts Association
GWGeorge007 wrote: mikey
)
Yup I agree with you too, pick the new guy and give him time to learn the NFL ways in the background while on a rookie contract and put Fields on the field. If Fields works out you have another year or so to keep the new guy in the background OR you have trade bait for either Fields or the new guy. Either way it's a win win for the Bears as either QB will be worth several other players and draft picks that they can hopefully get better with.
Happy New Year. May it be
)
Happy New Year.
May it be better than 2023 was for more people.
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
COLTS WIN !!
)
COLTS WIN
!! 
MAGIC Quantum Mechanic
)
I remember Johnny Unitas
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Tom M wrote: MAGIC Quantum
)
The recovery beverage after
)
The recovery beverage after New Year's?
Coffee
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Tom M wrote: The recovery
)
No hair of the dog? :-))