BearFan PHX

Williams is not dumb - he wants to bond with his team and win, and wont hold out over anything that literally cannot be changed. If Caleb is selfish, he wants to win games and make a fortune in ads. The only two issues possible are % of guaranteed money, which for the last four #1 picks was 100% and will be for Caleb too, so that's off the table. All that would be left is offset language that says that if the Bears cut him or trade him, that any money the new team pays him would also count as a deduction on what the Bears owe - so he wouldnt be double paid. SInce that would require us to cut him or trade him, it's extremely unlikely to happen. And since the rookie deal is so cheap, I dont think that would be terribly important to us either. So we could unilaterally take the only two possible reasons to hold out off the table with very little risk to us. So if Caleb holds out, it's Poles holding out too. I just dont see it. I dont see any of this anti Caleb stuff - I think it's just left over sour apples about Fields. We've got a superhero coming in and this is the way we act. LOL Caleb, they dont deserve you. Walter Payton, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady - all incredibly confident alpha types who were overly competitive. GOOD. We need that. I dont want a good little school boy. I want a winner, and if that means he has to drag the team and coaches around him into winning, then good we finally have that guy. I wanted that guy to be head coach, but if its the starting QB Im not mad at it at ALL.

and i dont think it's like Poles doesnt want Caleb but has to - I think hes thrilled that someone like this is available to us.

Caleb will get special treatment for as long as he deserves it.

not drafting him would be such a mistake it would get everyone fired. And I dont think Poles would skip getting a guy like that anyway.

Amazing! Good luck to him!

This is how I see it too. And your last sentence is gold.

sounds right to me too

out of the gate, for sure. Poles has shown an ability to find later round defensive backs though - I think this is more a matter of not having as many picks as we might like, and needing stop gap measures for a couple years to fill a hole? He might also be doing his due diligence on this guy in case Byard doesnt get signed quickly due to age, and is available on a cheaper one year type deal later. Who knows. The next few weeks are sure to be interesting.

Bears meeting with Safety Kevin Byard today - a perennial all pro who played most of his career in Tennessee. He's 30 years old, so probably a 2 year deal to fill a hole and then draft a replacement next year if we make an offer at all. Expected to command $7.2M a year.

I think if Poles gets a decent offer in Fields he will trade him before Caleb's medicals are in. If he doesnt get that offer we will never know who was right, but i think Poles has enough data to make a decision now rather than lets a decent offer go stale and possible lose it?

ah I see what youre saying. Youre saying if someone blows him away with a trade down from #1 he'd keep Justin. I think if he trades down it will be only to #2 or #3 and he'll draft a rookie QB anyway. But having watched film, i think Williams is the clear best one in the draft. I watched game tape on Maye too, and his accuracy is all over the place, One minute he's throwing a beautiful ball and the next hes way off. He's also young, and so he may be able to correct those things in time too. I just see Caleb as the total package, and someone we can actually contend for superbowls (more than one!) with.

I think the "blow him away" comment was about pick #1 not Justin?

I dont think Caleb would be scared of Fields' competition, I think it's a matter of establishing leadership and respect. You can imagine the locker room might not be so happy about watching Caleb take it from Fields after all weve read about the love for Fields in the locker room - and if this board, or all of Chicago sports talk, is any indication, it's a contentious emotional issue? And I would imagine Fields would HATE it. I wouldnt be at all surprised if we sign a vet QB to give Caleb a month or two to develop, and I see the logic of keeping Fields since he's under contract, but I dont think hes the guy for that role, so I think he will get traded.

ok good, we're back to that I guess.

that sounds like a reasonable price, but if no one wants to pay that for Justin, im not sure you can blame Poles for that?

nice view!

and a CYA/depth at FS, even though our worst case scenario right now would be Elijah Hicks at FS, which isn't SO bad.

Well it sure does sell clicks, so expect it to continue. But in reality, the Bears are not keeping Justin unless no one trades for him. Can you imagine how Caleb's camp would feel about keeping a fan favorite around? It's a recipe for royally screwing up what could be the best thing you ever had. At this point, I can't say that anyone is trading a 3rd or better for Fields. I think they will, but I cant know that. But I do know that keeping Fields into training camp and having him participate is just asking for trouble. I think Justin's market is fast becoming a backup QB spot somewhere. And I think that says a lot about how he is as a QB. I can't imagine JF would be happy with that on any team including ours. If the Bears keep Fields and draft Williams, I could easily see Justin holding out to demand a trade. Wouldnt you? I would.

Bears signed a FS / SPecial Teams guy who worked with Hightower in SF. He was a Packer last year but was injured. Good depth, special teams move. ANd protection at an open position before free agency / the draft as a CYA too. https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2024/03/08/bears-free-agent-signing-safety-tarvarius-moore-collin-johnson-special-teams-stalwart-san-francisco-49ers-richard-hightower

omg what is happening?

I agree, and I'm on your side of this debate as well. I'm just saying Fields isn't good AND the Bears did him no favors. And whatever the case, Caleb is the real deal, and we have to take him. It'd be "crazy" not to.

RIght. ANd if Poles respects Justin as his QB1, then he'd have said something about that in order to respect Justin. In fact, he has said that in order to "do right by Justin" he's trying to get things resolved as fast as possible. Well if you know youre keeping Justin as your QB1, then you could just announce that. So to me that says they are at least trying to trade him.

right, so Chicago is iffy at best on keeping Justin at QB1. Thats all Im saying. Chicago hasnt been telling everyone that they love Justin and want to trade the #1 pick down. Theyve been acting like theyre looking to move Justin. I dont think thats a really controversial thing to say?

I said "with our actions" they havent said it with words, but you dont treat your franchise QB the way we have treated Justin. Compare to Arizona tweeting out that Murray is QB1.