The Chicago Bears dilemma has been hashed out in media and on social media over and over again. In possession of the no. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, they are first in line to select USC blue chip quarterback prospect and Heisman Award winner Caleb Williams. However, they also currently have a starting quarterback in Justin Fields, who can be a brilliant play maker at times and whose overall game improved significantly over the last part of the previous season.
So, what do they do– draft Williams and trade Fields or keep Fields and trade away their no. 1 draft pick?
Ditch Fields?
Right now, the majority of the media voices “in the know” seem to feel that the Bears will ditch Fields and make Williams their starter.
Denver Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright of KOAColorado is one of those who feels that way, in full belief, based on his sources, that Williams will be in and Fields will be out.
“I think they’ll trade Justin Fields and draft Caleb Williams,” Allbright said in a recent appearance on ‘The Big Douglas Show.’ “I know that there are people out there saying that they’re going to hang on to Justin Fields. Everyone, unanimously, that I’ve talked to believes that they’re trading Justin Fields. So, generally when that happens, when I don’t have a single person who believes that they’re keeping him, generally, that means that they’re moving him.”
And if Fields IS traded, what would he bring in return?
Justin Fields’ Trade Value
In an ESPN piece by Jeremy Fowler and Courtney Cronin, unnamed NFL sources seem to be in agreement that the talented, but sometimes erratic Fields would bring in no better than a couple of day two picks.
“The consensus in an informal poll of league evaluators is that Fields would be worth a second- or third-round pick in a pre-draft trade,” the article stated. “When compared to former top-10 picks recently traded, that’s better than Trey Lance, whom Dallas acquired from San Francisco for a fourth-round pick, but slightly worse than Sam Darnold, who, along with a sixth-round pick, went from the Jets to Carolina in exchange for second- and fourth-rounders.”
But maybe the Bears would explore the idea of drafting Williams, but also keeping Fields, at least for one more season.
Williams AND Fields?
As a backup to Williams and a general quarterback insurance policy, it could be argued that Fields would have more value to the team than what a second-round pick this year and a third-round pick next season would have.
Until his fifth-year option kicks in, Fields could be kept on the team as a viable and relatively affordable Plan B should Williams flop or be sidelined due to injury. No matter what people think of Fields and his first-string chops, there’s zero question that he’d be a top of the food chain second-string QB.
A two-star scheme, though, would be bursting with potential issues and possible setbacks.
Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago, in an article written in December, summed up the perils of keeping both Williams and Fields.
“It’s true that you need two capable quarterbacks. But the idea of keeping Fields while drafting Williams or Maye to sit behind him as a backup is a disaster scenario waiting to happen.
Fields would handle it like a pro. I have no doubt.
But it would create an unnecessary quarterback controversy that would persist until either Fields or the No. 1 pick is sent elsewhere. It’s easy to say they could co-exist, but the second the losses start piling up, calls for Fields’ job would start. Hell, people wanted Tyson Bagent to be the full-time starter.
It’s just not a tenable situation.
It’s an awesome thing to do in Madden when you can remove the locker room aspect and outside noise.”
It’s unlikely that Chicago will opt to keep both quarterbacks, for some of the reasons Schrock outlined above. But stranger things have happened. It wouldn’t be at all bizarre for the team to play things safe and lock in a quality backup while grasping at a star.