adam

Wilson is as new as Fields in Pittsburgh, so I think Fields sees a path to starting there. RW only has a one year deal too, and is 35. It will be interesting to see if PIT picks up his 5th year option. I don't think they will, which will be telling. Also, PIT is setting themselves up for some issues in a few years either way. Next year, they are going to have to pay a QB one way or another. They would have to cut/no re-sign Cam Heyward and Fitzpatrick to absorb a normal QB contract, probably more. It would be tough to pass up Hurts who has years of experience in the offense. I wouldn't be surprised if DET and MIN were at least inquiring about Fields. Fields did shred Detroit a few times. MIN, not so much. I was surprised PIT moved on from Johnson at WR. They now only have Pickens, Van Jefferson, and Calvin Austin. Pickens is going to get a lot of attention, something he didn't have to worry about as much with Johnson on the field across from him.

My thought was Williams has never thrown to anyone as high caliber as Moore or Allen. The one thing for me that stands out for Williams over every other QB is how he keeps his head up and eyes downfield, to the point where it looks like his helmet is on a gimbal and his body is moving below a static helmet. My order right now would be, just based on multi-year production would be Williams, Nix, then Penix/Daniels as 3a/3b, sort of interchangeable based on your offense, then Maye/McCarthy as 4a/4b. Just based on potential and projections, I would say Williams ceiling is the highest (top 5) and floor is probably a top 20 QB (not as a rookie). Penix ceiling is probably top 10 with a similar floor as Williams. Daniels has a top 10 ceiling and a top 25 floor (feels like Kyler Murray production), then Maye/McCarthy are very team dependent. I think they max out as top 15 QBs and floor are career backups after a short time starting (Howell, Pickett, Trubisky, Fields). I would not be surprised if 3 to 4 end up being long time starters.

I think Courtney Cronin said Philly and Detroit were two of them.

No way, Washington would not pass on Williams. That would be like two super unlikely things occurring, like a tsunami hitting a volcano erupting.

Daniels scares me a little because he did that throwing to Nabers and Thomas, two likely first rounders. Daniels also did that as a 5th Year Senior, not a Junior. Look at what he did his Junior Year and Senior Year, and you would have a completely different perspective about him. He basically stayed in school to pad his numbers on a stacked team, and it worked. He would not have been a highly selected draft pick last year even though he was eligible. Also, there was a QB a few years ago who was also throwing to multiple 1st Round WRs in college, and that QB didn't work out.

I mean, really, if they add an Edge, DT, WR3, and Center before the season starts. Who is the weakest starting player? Nate Davis? They have Ryan Bates is waiting in the wings. I honestly can't think of another player that would be considered a liability who is starting. Also, the Bears still have 3 picks in the first two rounds in 2025 (thanks Panthers). So any liability identified this year will have instant backfill in 2025.

A trade down from #1 would be a shocker, but I don't think it is off the table.

If you can pull of JPJ, Corley, AND Leggette, that would be insane. A 5-WR set iwith Moore, Allen, Corley, Legette, and Scott/Everett/Kmet would be pretty silly.

Using PFF+Snap count, plugging in the loss of Fields and adding Williams with a generic score for now. The team is 2x high end starters better or the equivalent of taking 4 average players and making them really good. With 22 starters, that is close to 20%. Once you plug in the new first rounder, that will be a 5th slot. Just using projections, the Bears improved at RB, TE, C, WR on offense and at S on defense so far this offseason. The weakness is still Edge with a need for a rotational DT and veteran WR3. They can definitely address 2 of those in the draft.

With the addition of Byard (and subtraction of Jackson), the Bears are rolling out: Johnson, Stevenson, Gordon, Brisker, and Byard as the starting secondary with Terrell Smith, Greg Stroman, and Jonathan Owens as the first rotational players. Terrell Smith was the 2nd highest graded DB last year (behind JJ), and Owens had more snaps last year than any DB on the team. Can you name a better group, considering the depth as well? I can't. Also, this offseason was about clearing out the bottom of the roster. Blackwell, Ngakoue, Jackson, Jones, and Green were all in the bottom 10 players on the defense. There were a ton of bad snaps in that group that are now gone. Hicks was also in there and is now one position lower on the depth chart with Owens. Funny that there was a similar trend on offense with the loss of Mooney, Patrick, Whitehair, and Tonyan. Another set of bad snaps gone.

The Bears are still weak at WR3, Edge2, and need at least another rotational piece at DT with the loss of Jones. For upgrades, Center is the most obvious spot not listed. So priority seems to be WR/Edge, then DT, then Center. If they stand pat, they have #9, #75, and #122 to address those spots. They have talked about a big drop off in talent in this draft (due to players staying in school due to NIL), so there are fewer mid level players available. I assume that is why Poles has not been shy to dump draft picks later in the draft. What would you rather see the Bears do (not what you think they will do) with the draft picks? Do you think it is better to get a no-brainer blue chipper at #9 OR trade back to #17 and pick up something around #48 (using JAX as an example). Would #17 and #48 be better than #9? I think if Nabers, Odunze, Alt, or the top Edge is there at #9, I think you have to take them. If that group is gone, you definitely move back. I think Alt is the wild card. How do the Bears really feel about Braxton Jones? Also, if you do move back to #17, and JPJ is there at Center, is he the pick? Would you pick him over Edge? Then try to address Edge at #48 or #75?

I have to find it, but someone had a breakdown of the current Bears receivers (including Swift) against man and zone. Basically there is a cheat code no matter what coverage, someone will be open on every play. Also, Waldron last year: Lockett - 122 targets, Metcalf - 119 = Moore and Allen are gonna cook.

Like with Mitch, it's a good time to turn the page. It is a new chapter in Chicago Bears football. I appreciate everything Justin did for the team and city, it was bad timing, and didn't work out. I wish him the best in Pittsburgh, and hope he plays well when given the opportunity (preferably over 51% of the snaps in 2024).

Interesting comments from McCaskey about Fields this morning: "Did he win enough, no" "Was he consistent enough, no" "Did he make passes over the MoF enough, no" "Did he stay in the pocket with eye downfield enough, no" "but he got everything else right"

At this point it has to be a trade back from #9 to get at least a 2nd or 3rd rounder back, then make sure you get an Edge and WR in 2 of the top 3 picks.

I know man, but there have been enough of those so far to think it is actually possible. I assume they wanted this done before the USC Pro Day, and that date was fast approaching.

I don't know how it won't be the Bears this offseason. What do you think?

We will probably never know anything other than the result. Why wait until after free agency is this far along before making the trade? For me, Poles couldn't even get what the Steelers got for Pickett, and they are telling the Bears that they would rather have Fields over Pickett. Very odd timing on this, and the team is left empty handed in this year's draft. The entire time, it was get an extra pick or two back with the Fields trade. My fear is that they are going to trade back out from #1 to recoup trade value now, it would be so Bears to do so.

It was almost a guarantee once Poles spoke at the combine, I think he made a mistake there. The Jaguars got a 6th in the current year's draft and a conditional pick in the following year's draft for Gabbert. There are a ton of trades for bad QBs with less potential than Fields that got more. Here is one kicker, the Steelers won't pick up the option, then can decide on which QB to go with next season, as both Wilson and Fields will be UFAs. Guess what they get if the QBs sign elsewhere? A comp pick. With QB salaries naturally higher, even backups command a 3rd or 4th round comp pick level. The compensation is shocking.

What pisses me off is the Steelers have no fleeced Poles twice. After the Claypool trade, I would've blacklisted them from that point on.

What it comes down to is their own internal evaluation of Justin. If they didn't think he could improve enough to pay him, and based on the compensation, 31 other teams felt the same way, then what can Poles do? There would've been way too much drama in the locker room and with the fanbase, so this is an unfortunate set of circumstances.

My assumption is Poles made sure he went to a good franchise and didn't care about the value in return, ie, doing good by Justin, but he clearly did not do the second part of that statement and do what's best for the franchise. No way do you get less than what SF got for Trey Lance. That's embarrassing. Also, this is obviously a 2025 pick and no way he plays 51% of the snaps to make it a 4th, so this has a current year 7th round value on the trade.

DE depth piece, probably filling Green's role. Can't be as bad as Green was when he was in there.

ouch! He is slightly overrated. He had a stacked team with Allen, Williams, Johnston, Palmer, Ekeler, Kelley, Everett, and Parham and only had 3,134 passing yards and 20 TDs.

Just for fun, here is the Bears best group of skill position players for the Bears in the last 20+ years, and how they did in 2013, their best year together: 2013 Bears Offense Alshon 89-1421-7 Marshall 100-1295-12 M Bennett 65-759-5 Forte 74-594-3 E Bennett 32-243-4 Total 360-4312-31 ---------------- *No other player had more than 4 receptions on the team (they were extremely top heavy) Now compare that to the 2023 stats of the Bears current top 5 skill position players: Top 5 2023 Stats Moore 96-1364-8 Allen 108-1243-7 Kmet 73-719-6 Everett 51-411-3 Swift 39-214-1 Total 367-3951-25 --------------- Not only that, but the current roster has 3 more players that had 15+ receptions in 2023, so if include them: Roschon 34-209-0 Herbert 20-134-1 Scott 17-168-0 Total 438-4462-26 So the collective offense, as constructed today, has the potential for 4,400 passing yards and 25+ TDs. How about rushing? The trio of Swift, Herbert, and Roschon had 2,012 rushing yards last season with 9 TDs. In 2013, Forte+Bush had 1,536 rushing yards and 12 TDs. So this offense has the potential to match or exceed the 2013 team's offensive output with the same number of snaps. Forte, Swift and Herbert all averaged 4.6 YPC.