Justin Fields traded to Pittsburgh for conditional pick

[dplank]

Poles is not part of the same front office that drafted Justin and threw him to the wolves after Week 3. He's not part of the front offfice that drafted Trubisky and threw him in after game 4. He's not part of the front office that traded for Cutler and then never invested in the line in front of him.

I mentioned in the Caleb thread that Poles has set this offense up with a terrific set of training wheels for any rookie QB, and that was prior to landing Keenan Allen. I think he's created as soft a landing spot for his rookie as we've ever seen in this city. Almost as though he learned something while he was in KC.

Totally agree here. Caleb is stepping in to the best situation a rookie Bears QB has ever stepped into (at least during my lifetime). He has everything there, and if he's as good as folks say he should show it right away. That's long been the argument for him, that our 1.1 situation while not being a bottom barrel team was super unique and well positioned for a guy like him to step in - well, OK, here we are now, so fair game to expect his rookie season to be dramatically better than those that have come before him because his circumstances are perfectly setup for that. Well done by Poles in this regard.

This team was expected to be a playoff team in 2024, that's my expectation. Poles made his choice and will have to live with the consequences. If CW is the goods, he will have a 10 year + run as our GM. If CW fails, it will cost Poles his job in 2 years. Honestly, he faced this same dilemma with keeping Fields, so it's not unique or different. But he put his career in the hands of an an unknown rookie, we will see if that was a smart move or not soon.

[The Marshall Plan]

Poles is not part of the same front office that drafted Justin and threw him to the wolves after Week 3. He's not part of the front offfice that drafted Trubisky and threw him in after game 4. He's not part of the front office that traded for Cutler and then never invested in the line in front of him.

I mentioned in the Caleb thread that Poles has set this offense up with a terrific set of training wheels for any rookie QB, and that was prior to landing Keenan Allen. I think he's created as soft a landing spot for his rookie as we've ever seen in this city. Almost as though he learned something while he was in KC.

When was the last time a #1 overall drafted QB entered a situation as favorable as this:

An offense with 2 legit WRs and 1 legit TE.
An effective running game.
An offensive line that's 1 center away from being pretty good.
A defense that could be Top 12 and then an easy Top 10 if an effective pass rusher is taken at 9.
An OC with some good street cred with a recent history of success.

If Williams winds up not succeeding in this situation, he wouldn't have succeeded anyplace else.

Somebody with his supposed abilities playing alongside a top defense that consistently gives him short fields plus those weapons is going to be something to watch.

[TheWorldBreaker]

Do you think Justin would have been happier to sit here and wait for his opportunity to be released next year, or get a fresh start in Pittsburgh now, where he can take time to learn the system and might have a chance to play this year?

Green Bay is by far the outlier, not the norm, and in the case of Favre, he didn't sit and learn for them (he was in his second year, but after they acquired him, they played him almost immediately). Other teams have rookies start and play, and it can work. It often doesn't because of the player and/or situation, but we have a great situation for whoever Poles thinks it's the right player. If you ask me, this is different this time - especially if we actually give the guy all the reps from the start.

I’m not in it for Justin’s happiness, I’m in it to solve the 100 years Bears QB problem. And having your rookie QB sit and learn their first year is not an outlier. 3 years would be an outlier, I wasn’t suggesting we go that far.

Having a quarterback that has underperformed to this point in his career sit in front of the #1 overall pick would definitely be an outlier.

Eberflus was never risking his job on Fields let alone as a lame duck and top assistants weren’t signing up for that either.

They’ve built a good infrastructure for Caleb Williams lots of competent coaches and an improved offensive line and weapons. That is more important than sitting and learning.

I actually think the reason sitting and learning has worked sometimes is because it’s usually garbage teams picking the quarterbacks so a year allows them to provide more talent around them which sets them up for success better.

[TheWorldBreaker]

Poles is not part of the same front office that drafted Justin and threw him to the wolves after Week 3. He's not part of the front offfice that drafted Trubisky and threw him in after game 4. He's not part of the front office that traded for Cutler and then never invested in the line in front of him.

I mentioned in the Caleb thread that Poles has set this offense up with a terrific set of training wheels for any rookie QB, and that was prior to landing Keenan Allen. I think he's created as soft a landing spot for his rookie as we've ever seen in this city. Almost as though he learned something while he was in KC.

When was the last time a #1 overall drafted QB entered a situation as favorable as this:

An offense with 2 legit WRs and 1 legit TE.
An effective running game.
An offensive line that's 1 center away from being pretty good.
A defense that could be Top 12 and then an easy Top 10 if an effective pass rusher is taken at 9.
An OC with some good street cred with a recent history of success.

If Williams winds up not succeeding in this situation, he wouldn't have succeeded anyplace else.

Somebody with his supposed abilities playing alongside a top defense that consistently gives him short fields plus those weapons is going to be something to watch.

They’ve also got a good pass catching second TE and a really good pass catching RB.

If he just plays at an average level at QB this team should be really good.

This might be the best situation a #1 pick has ever walked into.

[Burl]

Agree that the QB we take is stepping into a good spot.
You never know how a season will go with regard to injuries or other things, but on paper at least we appear to be solid.
Kudos to Poles there. This is his baby now, no question.

[Hema2.0]

I’m not in it for Justin’s happiness, I’m in it to solve the 100 years Bears QB problem. And having your rookie QB sit and learn their first year is not an outlier. 3 years would be an outlier, I wasn’t suggesting we go that far.

They’ve built a good infrastructure for Caleb Williams lots of competent coaches and an improved offensive line and weapons. That is more important than sitting and learning.

I really believe that all the extra offensive coaches hired was for two reasons.

First, more coaching hopefully leading to more development.

Second, and maybe more importantly, the hiring of these coaches puts more birds in the hand so to speak to keep the system consistent for a young QB if and when Waldron gets HC opportunities. And if CWill goes off, he will get opportunities.

[Rusty Trombagent]

Poles is not part of the same front office that drafted Justin and threw him to the wolves after Week 3. He's not part of the front offfice that drafted Trubisky and threw him in after game 4. He's not part of the front office that traded for Cutler and then never invested in the line in front of him.

I mentioned in the Caleb thread that Poles has set this offense up with a terrific set of training wheels for any rookie QB, and that was prior to landing Keenan Allen. I think he's created as soft a landing spot for his rookie as we've ever seen in this city. Almost as though he learned something while he was in KC.

Totally agree here. Caleb is stepping in to the best situation a rookie Bears QB has ever stepped into (at least during my lifetime). He has everything there, and if he's as good as folks say he should show it right away. That's long been the argument for him, that our 1.1 situation while not being a bottom barrel team was super unique and well positioned for a guy like him to step in - well, OK, here we are now, so fair game to expect his rookie season to be dramatically better than those that have come before him because his circumstances are perfectly setup for that. Well done by Poles in this regard.

This team was expected to be a playoff team in 2024, that's my expectation. Poles made his choice and will have to live with the consequences. If CW is the goods, he will have a 10 year + run as our GM. If CW fails, it will cost Poles his job in 2 years. Honestly, he faced this same dilemma with keeping Fields, so it's not unique or different. But he put his career in the hands of an an unknown rookie, we will see if that was a smart move or not soon.

I don't know why fans always feel like they need to make grand declarations about this stuff. Every situation is unique, and you only feel this way cause you're mad about Justin

Caleb might not work out. Shit happens, and if he fails and other things are still going good, poles might get another shot. Who knows.

[Boris13c]

I certainly have no ill will towards Justin, and wish him well ... it would be nice if it works out for him as he does have talent, but it is still raw and underdeveloped talent ... would have been nice if it had worked in Chicago but for many reasons it didn't ... his bad game to close the season against Green Bay probably sealed his fate

so here's to you Justin ... don't let your failure with the Bears equate to career failure

[G08]

Poles is not part of the same front office that drafted Justin and threw him to the wolves after Week 3. He's not part of the front offfice that drafted Trubisky and threw him in after game 4. He's not part of the front office that traded for Cutler and then never invested in the line in front of him.

I mentioned in the Caleb thread that Poles has set this offense up with a terrific set of training wheels for any rookie QB, and that was prior to landing Keenan Allen. I think he's created as soft a landing spot for his rookie as we've ever seen in this city. Almost as though he learned something while he was in KC.

When was the last time a #1 overall drafted QB entered a situation as favorable as this:

An offense with 2 legit WRs and 1 legit TE.
An effective running game.
An offensive line that's 1 center away from being pretty good.
A defense that could be Top 12 and then an easy Top 10 if an effective pass rusher is taken at 9.
An OC with some good street cred with a recent history of success.

If Williams winds up not succeeding in this situation, he wouldn't have succeeded anyplace else.

Somebody with his supposed abilities playing alongside a top defense that consistently gives him short fields plus those weapons is going to be something to watch.

I knew you'd come around -- Welcome back!

[Magilla_Gorilla]

[Rusty Trombagent]

Purported Justin fans who are pissed at how little we got for him sending him to a good situation is a funny little wrinkle in all this.

[Noots]

My heart goes out to everyone who stood on the JF1 hill and hung in there through to this point. dplank, TMP, others.
There’s a lot to like about the guy and I can see why so many would pine for him to have another season to show what he can do.

This is just my own opinion, as always—so here goes:

I think it was over for Justin when he made the statement about 5 games in that the problem was coaching. I don’t think it was him saying that, it’s just that’s when we all knew that trying to make him a conventional quarterback was over as well as any shred of him being an on time, anticipatory passer. Instead of being anticipatory in those first few games, he was still not trusting to get rid of the ball and instead throwing checkdowns in the flat, still off-timed, or trying to take off, and often getting sacked.

When they went back to the old ways, he had a similar level of success to the previous season, but the limitations of defenses figuring him out were still there, and so he became a guy who turned it over less, but didn’t have as many electric plays, either because that was taken away from him by the defense or was just that averse to risk.

When you think about someone becoming a great artist or musician, there is a path and there are comfort zones that you can fall into, and if you don’t get past them, you’re stuck. Move past the unfamiliar. Those first five games. Hey, I can play chords on the piano but I can’t read note for note really well. My right hand is excellent, but the left is a bit limited. I can hold down the full octave shapes, but playing both hands, independently from one another becomes more and more of a challenge. I don’t think Justin has made it there to maestro level.

He rebelled against that discomfort. And I think as others have noted, Getsy to get a job offer quickly after multiple interviews, the amount of coin Mooney picked up, and the paltry offer in the trade tell us what we needed to know, as much as we don’t like it. Probably the most likable dude on the team. You want good things for him.

Maybe that next leap will happen for him. But I have this feeling that the only way he is going to get better is if he is deconstructed, taken apart brick by brick, and built back up again from the ground up. Who has time for that? And resources? He has a new playbook to learn.

I hope we can put our differences aside here and move on, ready for whoever takes the reins next. I don’t think it’s a slam dunk it’s Caleb Williams, btw. To Yogi’s point, there aren’t many anticipatory throws on tape there either. But to analyst Kurt Warner’s review, it’s not what their offense called for very often.

There are exciting times on our doorstep with this roster makeover. Not sure who will be under center but they’ll have my support. Whether it’s Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy, Penix or someone else—-as y’all said, they’re walking into a great situation and a stacked roster.

[Heinz D.]

When was the last time a #1 overall drafted QB entered a situation as favorable as this:

An offense with 2 legit WRs and 1 legit TE.
An effective running game.
An offensive line that's 1 center away from being pretty good.
A defense that could be Top 12 and then an easy Top 10 if an effective pass rusher is taken at 9.
An OC with some good street cred with a recent history of success.

If Williams winds up not succeeding in this situation, he wouldn't have succeeded anyplace else.

Somebody with his supposed abilities playing alongside a top defense that consistently gives him short fields plus those weapons is going to be something to watch.

[Kylo Bearen]

When was the last time a #1 overall drafted QB entered a situation as favorable as this:

An offense with 2 legit WRs and 1 legit TE.
An effective running game.
An offensive line that's 1 center away from being pretty good.
A defense that could be Top 12 and then an easy Top 10 if an effective pass rusher is taken at 9.
An OC with some good street cred with a recent history of success.

If Williams winds up not succeeding in this situation, he wouldn't have succeeded anyplace else.

Somebody with his supposed abilities playing alongside a top defense that consistently gives him short fields plus those weapons is going to be something to watch.

Precisely! Another factor going for Caleb, as well, is he will have a real OC with years of experience calling plays, for him. There will be no excuse for Williams to not take Chicago to the playoffs or have them in the hunt towards season's end. At the very least he should put up high numbers.

[mmmc_35]

Playoffs... it's a long time from now to then.

Yes on paper there is a lot to like about this roster. 2 key injuries and that paper tiger isnt so scarey. Especially with a rookie QB. William's could be the next great QB, but even the greatest have a learning curve.

Poles has done an admirable job. I haven't agreed with every thing. The roster though does look formidable.

[dplank]

Playoffs... it's a long time from now to then.

Yes on paper there is a lot to like about this roster. 2 key injuries and that paper tiger isnt so scarey. Especially with a rookie QB. William's could be the next great QB, but even the greatest have a learning curve.

Poles has done an admirable job. I haven't agreed with every thing. The roster though does look formidable.

A little DL help and he’s got us in great shape!

[Bearsfan34]

His contract is part of it, to be sure.

But I'm sure surprised he had less value than Mac Jones. He's a better QB.

The market doesnt think so apparently. I'm very suprised by the return. Even Fields detractors over rated his market value.

I think that speaks volumes of our biases as fans.

I said this before,Bear fans ALWAYS over evaluate our players......I always said the vety best we could actually get would a 3rd,and thats very best....
Theres not been a Bear in years that was worth a 1st in the secondary market.....the only one to come to mind wouldve been Payton,possibly Singletary or Urlacher.....
Even now I highly highly doubt you could get a no.1 for DJ iff he were to be traded.....
But you know damn good and well someone would think we could.....

[Heinz D.]

A little DL help and he’s got us in great shape!

Absolutely.

Time for us fans to stop all the infighting--the sniping, the snark. Time for us to take a step back and recognize what's going on with our team.

This is, currently, the best shape our beloved team has been in since the 80's. And we don't have a Ditka around to fuck things up.

People will hand wring and pearl clutch over whether Williams is the real deal--and that's fine, that's how this all works--but I always go back to Bagent. I totally love Bagent...he could be the real deal. So, even if Williams is a bust, we still have Tyson.

Things are rosy in Bears Land. As hard as that is to admit.

[southdakbearfan]

Playoffs... it's a long time from now to then.

Yes on paper there is a lot to like about this roster. 2 key injuries and that paper tiger isnt so scarey. Especially with a rookie QB. William's could be the next great QB, but even the greatest have a learning curve.

Poles has done an admirable job. I haven't agreed with every thing. The roster though does look formidable.

2 key injuries on all nfl rosters changes everything.

[mmmc_35]

Playoffs... it's a long time from now to then.

Yes on paper there is a lot to like about this roster. 2 key injuries and that paper tiger isnt so scarey. Especially with a rookie QB. William's could be the next great QB, but even the greatest have a learning curve.

Poles has done an admirable job. I haven't agreed with every thing. The roster though does look formidable.

2 key injuries on all nfl rosters changes everything.

Yeah that's pretty true. My thinking is more the roster during 2006 or 2010 were much more complete. Even with QB issues. Perhaps I am wrong.

The current roster is formidable, but definitely still not ready to be annointed as a playoff team (with a rookie qb).

[Heinz D.]

The current roster is formidable, but definitely still not ready to be annointed as a playoff team (with a rookie qb).

Hell, I'll annoint them.

If this team doesn't make the playoffs, it'll come extremely close.

And I expect better QB play next season--whether that comes from Williams, Bagent, or both.

[The Marshall Plan]

The current roster is formidable, but definitely still not ready to be annointed as a playoff team (with a rookie qb).

Hell, I'll annoint them.

If this team doesn't make the playoffs, it'll come extremely close.

And I expect better QB play next season--whether that comes from Williams, Bagent, or both.

They were a playoff team based on 2H23.

Since then they've improved with Allen, Swift, a center not named Whitehair, and we got safeties that can tackle now.

This isn't factoring in the 9 pick (I'm hoping for a pass rusher.) and then the alleged outperformance of Williams over JF1.

We have a playoff team.

[southdakbearfan]

2 key injuries on all nfl rosters changes everything.

Yeah that's pretty true. My thinking is more the roster during 2006 or 2010 were much more complete. Even with QB issues. Perhaps I am wrong.

The current roster is formidable, but definitely still not ready to be annointed as a playoff team (with a rookie qb).

Yeah, agree.

I trust poles will find some more depth though, overall there isn’t a bunch of glaring holes.

Playoff ready?, IDK, 7 wins last year, my goal regardless who they draft is 10 wins, maybe 11. Will that get in? We will see.

With a rookie at QB, sustained offense, consistency and improvement should be goals limiting turnovers while sustaining drives. Any rookie should be helped by the roster at hand with Moore, Allen, Kmet and a stable of running backs and a more solidified line, but it’s a new playbook for all so I expect lumps in the beginning before they fly.

[mmmc_35]

Yeah that's pretty true. My thinking is more the roster during 2006 or 2010 were much more complete. Even with QB issues. Perhaps I am wrong.

The current roster is formidable, but definitely still not ready to be annointed as a playoff team (with a rookie qb).

Yeah, agree.

I trust poles will find some more depth though, overall there isn’t a bunch of glaring holes.

Playoff ready?, IDK, 7 wins last year, my goal regardless who they draft is 10 wins, maybe 11. Will that get in? We will see.

With a rookie at QB, sustained offense, consistency and improvement should be goals limiting turnovers while sustaining drives. Any rookie should be helped by the roster at hand with Moore, Allen, Kmet and a stable of running backs and a more solidified line, but it’s a new playbook for all so I expect lumps in the beginning before they fly.

I think that's the accurate assessment. There is a lot in flux. There are still issues on the roster. The offense system will be in its infancy. The QB, the most important position will be a rookie. Not a single person knows how that plays out.

Luckily on paper the team is decent and on paper have an easy schedule.

[Arkansasbear]

Just now getting a chance to chime in.

Not surprisingly I’m not happy but knew it was coming. But for the return we got I still say keep him. At worst he can play a Slash Stewart role like Stewart did early in his career.

I’m wishing him a career along the line of Marcus Mariotto or Chase Daniels. A career backup who makes a ton of money. If he goes have a great career as a starter and makes playoffs the level CW has to reach to justify gets real high.

If Fields succeeds and we don’t win Super BowlS the argument will always be that if we kept Fields and traded 1.1 for a haul it would have allowed Fields to win to do for us. I simply don’t want to hear it.

Let’s have the outcome of this trade make it crystal clear it was the right move.

Come on CW!!!!! (Or whoever they target).

[Magilla_Gorilla]

[dplank]

Good for Poles, I prefer the “player perception capital” Poles gained in this particular case.

[UOK]

Good for Poles, I prefer the “player perception capital” Poles gained in this particular case.

Agreed. This is worth a lot among players and agents. It buys equity you can’t earn easily.

[spudbear]

Like Judge Ark, a little late to the party, or "viewing".
Like others have said, the NFL evaluated Fields and didn't think he was worthy of gambling on him being a starter. The 5th year money scared some teams away. I had my doubts about his decision making. A QB can have all the physical talent, outwork/outhustle the rest of the team, watch countless hours of film and even have a coach talk to him as he goes up to the line, but if he makes bad decisions or untimely/slow decisions then NFL defenses will eventually eat him up. Fields was improving but apparently not well enough for Poles and Flus.

And Pittsburgh ... a team that made the playoffs last season with a QB by committee ends up blowing up the QB corps, and then brings in essentially one year rentals on prove it deals. I would not be surprised if they draft a QB in the first round as the draft is fairly deep. With Big Ben gone the Steelers have not been able to do much in spite of having talented playmakers and a strong D.

I hope Fields starts when they play Baltimore and Lamar. That would be must see TV.

[Heinz D.]

So...Rappaport is now admitting that the Bears were actively trading Fields? Good for him. I also hope that he's done huffing spray paint, as it's really bad for you...