BearFan PHX

lol he did finally make some in rhythm throws from the pocket last week. First time Ive seen that outside of the scripted plays. His drops were more urgent too, so thats good to see. I watched JT OSullivans tape and he made some good points about bad footwork. Fields is such a mystery. Two years from now he could be terrible and not starting anywhere, or burning up the league, and it's really hard to see which since they are both so possible. But hell yeah, if the light comes on for Fields and he adds all that superhero stuff to a potent in rhythm passing attack Im totally buying his jersey Ive never disliked Fields the person. He seems really nice, hard worker - you want to root for him. but damn he makes it hard to love him sometimes LOL

Looks like Patrick is on IR, and Kramer is coming up. Id sure like to get a look at him. Wish we saw him weeks ago, but I dunno what the coaches are seeing in practice. Hopefully it's not something that messes up our last chance to evaluate Fields - that would be awful.

yeah it's all good, and Im not mad or fighting with you - I have always respected you, and you have known me for like 15 years. This is a new rep I have about that fight with Stinger. Thats all - everything is fine. And Im very much a positive optimist in my life. The past year Ive been tough on the BEars because I want a winner and Im sick of being terrible and then being slightly less terrible, thinking weve turned the corner and then watching it go to crap again. That's been our franchise. Hopefully with Warren in charge as a buffer to the McCaskeys, something new can happen. But Im cynical about small growth is all. Because I want the Bears to be bold and be great. I miss the 1985 swagger so much. I want that kind of team. But its all from loving the Bears of course.

Pix, you literally just said that I "must be looking for a reason not to like Poles" - thats personal. That I have a vendetta and Im looking for reason to support it? Then you said I "must not be a hugger" but you hug your kids. What is that? Especially since this thread is literally the first time Ive ever said anything critical of Poles? And Im not mad at you, and Im surely not fighting with you. Im not looking for a fight. I ended one longstanding one with another poster. Thats all that happened. And you also made my point saying your business relationships and decisions are affected by your personal relationships. Thats good and normal in any other business than a GM for pro sports where you have to make tough decisions with guys you might like? Also, no, every time we disagree I dont say that you are being personal. I only said it once to you before and it was for the same thing "It looks like youre just looking for things to be critical about Fields about" - well Im not, I just disagree with you, and youre the one saying that my dislike must come first and facts cherry picked after to support that. This is ALL fallout from the nonsense with Stinger. Im telling you, I get that most of you didnt see it. It went on at a low level for YEARS. i had enough. Now I have some kind of belief that Im a negative guy. Im gonna tell you right now, I am actually an incredible optimist in my life, and I hug my daughter every chance I get. Im an excellent father. Not really necessary to bring that kind of thing in here. But all I can say is youve read me entirely wrong. I set a boundary (one that ANY of you would have set int he same position) with Stinger. Thats all that happened. That and I said things about Fields that literally every football pundit has also said. Please recalculate you opinion of me, or if not, then keep the comments to arguing with why I say, and not my character, or imagined personal vendettas against players and coaches. Its just sportstalk.

and werent most of those kind of embarrassing? like the GMs wanted to be one of the guys? Also Im just speaking of the NFL. The only NFL one on that list that wasnt cringey was Ozzie Newsome, and he was blazing a new path at the time of increasing minority leadership, so that connection with the players made a lot of sense. I dont remember Policy being in the locker room except after championships? A lot of people thought that Jerry Jones and Al Davis' involvement and ego was a detriment to their teams. Without the incredibly one sided Herschel Walker trade, Jones wouldnt have the same cred or super bowls. But in general, NFL GMs dont usually hang out with players, and also all the people you listed were somewhat legendary. Poles isnt like that. I think Poles isnt authoritative enough in this way, and Im curious to see if he will be able to trade good players a year before their contracts expire like new England did with Akiem Hicks for example. I worry that Poles is too much of a team player, and wants to appease what coaches want etc. Not that hes made bad decisions so far - hes done a great job - but that was shipping off players he didnt have relationships with, and acquiring talent so far. I just wonder if he could let a guy like Justin go if that was the right decision. Im sure he can cut bad players, but will he turn his back on good players to keep the cap healthy and the pipeline of new players full? And if Im right about this, then hopefully Kevin Warren is the bad cop from above. But if so, that kind of diminishes Poles' power. Anyway, its something to keep an eye on - and certainly not a giant problem. As I said, Im all for keeping Poles. I just want him to be a little less green I guess.

all good, and I never criticized Poles for Jones or Claypool - I know he was in a tough spot and had to reach at that point for WRs - and you never want to have to reach, and that's why. But it was the situation he was in. So i never really criticized him for that, but instead defended him. I just think that the GM shouldnt want to be one of the guys - some coaches do that, but the GM should be more detached. I cant think of another NFL GM thats routinely in the locker room and hugging players - can anyone point me to another example of this commonly happening? And if you disagree madlith, thats all fine! - its just sportstalk.

right, but the agent has to determine what he thinks the highest the Bears will pay is? If the GM is loving all over the player, that raises that expected number. Its the same reason in the draft. lets say the Bears are 100% committed to Justin and will trade out of the #1 pick. Does Poles come out next week and give a glowing report on Justin? No way! he wants to make smoke like hes gonna draft a QB at #1, and it might be the QB your team wants. That increases the trade value. Its the same thing. You dont go buy a car and spend time telling the salesman how much you love the car before you negotiate a price! This is all well known stuff. I just think Poles is too close to the players. Im not saying to fire him or anything like that.

This one criticism I have of Poles doesnt negate all the good hes done and i support him being retained as GM 100% - hes done a great job. I am just concerned that this particular thing is a conflict that will come into play as we have to move on from good players who are liked in the future. To the scenario i mentioned, no one takes less money because they like the GM, but they might misjudge how much Poles will give them if they think he has a personal relationship with them. Thats the conflict, and it is one. It would be in any business. And its not a big deal, Im not against Poles or anything, it's just one aspect i think he should correct is all. But if Warren wants to play bad cop it kind of makes Poles an assistant GM to Warren.

like I said, if a player believes Poles loves him, they may hold out for more money, and it may make deals harder to make. As one example of why its a conflict even if it doesnt prevent Poles from being tough - it sends incorrect signals.

no Im not. please dont make this some kind of personal issue that I have some kind of personal problem with Poles. Im not looking for anything any more than youre looking for a reason to think I have a problem. Are you? Me either. This is coming from the idea that Im a negative person looking for problems, which was Stingers narrative about my criticisms of Fields. Please dont buy into that crap. I have said nothing but good things about him, and I want us to keep him. Hes doing an excellent job, But its the coaches job to love the players, and I think the GM should keep more distance. Its a conflict of interest.

Yes I think Ian is helping a lot. But as far as Poles imagine this - youre in a tough negotiation with a player youve been hugging in the locker room - doesnt the player think they can hold out for a little more because "poles loves me man, hes not gonna cut or trade me over a few bucks" and lets say the love deosnt affect Poles and he cuts or trades him - could he have kept him at a lower number of the player (and their agent) didnt think Poles loved them so much? its a conflict and a problem I think. I have really liked Poles; moves so far. I think hes doing a great job. I just think he needs to be less friendly with the players. Brad Pitt wasnt friendly with the As when he was GM, he didnt even fly with them, and he made Jonah Hill do it.

thats the best argument for firing everyone. you want to KNOW youre good, and if you dont, youre not.

1. Flus has done a decent job with what he's been given, but it's still been a 2 year audition where he made a ton of unforced errors in situational football, timeouts, 4th and 1, overly safe. The guy blew three games we had big late leads in. But I don't think I need to say he is terrible to think he should be replaced. He isnt a secret weapon that gives you an edge in beating good teams, and that alone is reason to search for another coach. Bears will bring him back, but they shouldn't. 2. Fields has had a glaring set of weaknesses I've chronicled here many times. Last week against Atlanta, he showed some things he really hadnt before outside of the scripted plays. Can he sustain it? It's hard to know. If you ignore the treasure of trading down that first pick, and get a guy like Penix (or others), you might be better off than with Fields. When you include the picks it's much harder to say. Poles is gonna keep Fields though. 3. Kevin Warren is going to have to become our GM, because Poles is too close with the players. I saw him hugging guys when they told them they made the Pro Bowl. Poles seems like a loyal guy. If he's keeping Flus and Fields, it might be time to ask whether he's able to move on from good players that he has emotional ties to. He's done well bringing players in, but good teams move on from good players and keep the draft pipeline going. Can Poles do that? What does Warren think about that?

Fields also holds the ball longer than 3 seconds, while Tua is one of the fastest to get it out of his hands. So is Fields pressured because the OL sucks or because he holds the ball too long?

Good for JJ, he's really improved again this year to an even higher level, and Sweat, well how could he NOT be a Pro Bowler. I have a running bet with my brother over who will get Pro Bowl nod first between Darnell Wright (thats my bet) and Peter Skoronski (thats his bet) Im gonna win, but not this year

ha Im lying but that's what it might to take to make you look like her hahaha

interesting point. so far that has been him. as we reach capacity, he might be a trade up for a few impact players kind of guy, I dunno, but that's probably 2025 not 2024.

my last post brought to you by 30 shots of everclear LOL

LOL I didnt know you were so hot, Grizz!

it's going to be f*cking fun

and in a way, our current 2nd first round pick, is like a super elevated second rounder, being that it is currently our second selection. If we decide to stay with Fields, the scenarios are very seductive. So many ways to go, and all of them are great.

Id love to go to the combine with my Dad - thats very cool. how much you wanna bet Williams doesnt workout at the combine and does it at his own pro day instead.

and a lot of Fields' good stats werent attained while throwing in rhythm from the pocket, so i dont know how you can use any improvement in those stats to predict that he will learn how to do that. The only thing I have that says he even CAN is this past game. In my eyes, he long ago proved that hes an incredible running improvising QB. And he only just this week showed me any drops in tempo, and sustained quick reads from the pocket on time. Stats are just not gonna help me with this decision. Thankfully whatever I decide makes no friggin difference whatsoever LOL But for Poles and those guys, it almost has to be a gut decision on this one, because there are no metrics for whether what he did this past week is the new Justin, and what he will look like in camp next year in terms of tempo. Did he finally get the feel for it? Or was he under pressure for his job that will dissipate over the summer? Steadiness and lack of panic is an essential ingredient to being a great QB. I almost feel like Fields has too much of it. He feels detached sometimes, unhurried, unaffected and distant. I think thats why his drops have been slow. No moment is too big for him, but on the flip side he lacks urgency. Then again, i can say this. I've worked with a ton of celebrities in my career. Out of all of them the most boring person I ever met was Joe Montana. He was like mashed potatoes. I could imagine him in the huddle in that super bowl against Cincinnatti CALMLY BORINGLY calling that sprint right option play where the ball ends up in Clark's hands. Yeah. Yawn, You just go there and Ill throw it to ya. It's like 10 yards. no big deal. its just a throw and catch. So there is definitely something to be said for calm and unphased. Then again, the ball came out fast with Montana - he was a surgeon on the field making reads and moving safeties. Justin can keep mumbling and being low energy confident and unflappable as long as his drops are crisp like they were this past week, and he gets the ball out on schedule. Who will he be in July? That's the question.

Man that does sound like fun. I went to the draft a couple of years when it was a smaller deal in NYC. You had to bribe the security guard $20 to get into the gallery. It wasnt really a production for fans yet. Mel Kiper's helmet had no grey in it. If I lived there, Id go for sure. Have an amazing time, and tell us what you see? The numbers only tell some of the story.

yeah, if you believe in Fields, and you also believe in one or more of the rookie QBs, then it comes down to "which is better, a rookie on his rookie deal, or Fields and the first pick in the draft" I think most of us, myself included, have to say that if you believe in Fields, having Fields AND everything the first overall pick brings is better than the cap savings on having a rookie, and their developmental schedule. The question has always been do you believe in Fields, do you believe in any of the rookies. Until this last game, I did not believe in Fields. Now I see the possibility that he has it in him. I wish I had four more games to see it, but no one said this would be easy. But yes, he showed a sustained ability I hadn't seen from him before. Of course if you don't believe in Fields, the choice is easy. The choice is also easy if you don't believe in any of the rookies. It all comes down to making a bet on Justin's future. Gun to my head if I had to decide right now, Id keep Fields, and blow the first overall pick up into as much as I could get. MHJr or Odunze or Nabers wouldnt suck. Neither would a dominant Edge. and much more. But I wouldnt sign the 5th year option. I wouldnt want to make that bet to the point that I was hamstrung in 2025, espeically if we have two first rounders again. And If Im wrong, and Fields balls out, then Im signing him to a long term deal, and Ill miss out on the $15 Mil savings in 2025. Thats better than losing the bet and having $25Mil on your books for 2025 for a guy who isnt starting. And all of this, predicated on one game. Sheesh I hate that. I used to be able to say "he has never had a game where he did this consistently" and now he has. One game. At least I know he has it in him now i guess.