Bears
The Bears have a series of huge decisions coming this offseason. Chicago has to decide whether to take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick they got from last yearโs trade with the Panthers, or whether to stick with former first-round QB Justin Fields.
A front office source acknowledged Fields has not made things any easier with his improvement, telling ESPNโs Courtney Cronin and Jeremy Fowler Fieldsโ โspecialโ playmaking has โabsolutelyโ made things harder on Chicago.
But while Fields has improved and clearly has a lot of potential, his numbers are still underwhelming relative to the overall league landscape at the position.
โI just think we know what he is at this point โ a great athlete and playmaker who misses some throws he shouldnโt or doesnโt always take the throws available to him,โ one NFC executive told ESPN. โYou can win some games with him, and heโs got some elements to his game that are really impressive, but itโs not sustainable long-term from a pocket-passing standpoint, in my opinion.โ
What makes things complicated is even if the Bears shared that opinion โ and itโs not clear they do โ Fields has won over the locker room and a significant portion of the fanbase. After this past Sundayโs win over the Falcons, there were chants of โWe want Fieldsโ from the fans.
โNo one in here thinks Justinโs not a top quarterback,โ one veteran player told ESPN. โNo one would tell you that. Everyone believes heโs a top-10 quarterback in the league.โ
โ[He] has had the city on his shoulders since he came in [and has been a] true professional,โ Bears CB Jaylon Johnson added. โโฆI canโt see another quarterback coming in here and taking anything over.โ
Bears GM Ryan Poles and HC Matt Eberflus run a real risk of alienating players if they donโt manage this decision correctly, as itโs clear the locker room still has some scars from how other notable veterans like LB Roquan Smith and DE Robert Quinn have been traded away
โItโs like, if you get rid of him, what are we doing?โ a Bears veteran said. โItโs like last year when they got rid of Roquan and Rob. That was our captain. We knew we were going down.โ
โIf we do that next year, itโs like where are we going?โ a Bears starter said of drafting a QB at No. 1. โSo weโve got to go through this for another year until he [a rookie quarterback] is able to compete for a Super Bowl?โ
- Both Poles and Eberflus have faced speculation about their job security this year, with the arrival of new team president Kevin Warren a complicating factor as heโs expected to have a voice in football decisions going forward.
- Cronin and Fowler write Polesโ job appears to be pretty safe, per sources, with a little less certainty about Eberflus although the 7-5 record over the past 12 weeks helps.
- They note Warren was exuberant after the win against the Falcons and was heard declaring, โ2024 is going to be special.โ
- There still seems to be support for Fields in the building, with a coaching source telling Cronin and Fowler: โThis is a high-ceiling player โ thereโs much more he can tap into.โ
- Cronin and Fowler asked around the league, and the general thought was that if the Bears traded the No. 1 pick they could get more than they got from the Panthers last year. Execs gauged the value of the pick as two future first-rounders on top of a top-five pick this year, plus a Day 2 pick and/or a premium veteran player on a decent contract.
- The consensus in an informal poll of league evaluators was that the Bears could get a second or third-round pick for Fields if they put him on the block, per Cronin and Fowler.
- The Bears brought in LS Matt Overton for a tryout, via Aaron Wilson.
Packers
The Packers must defeat the Bears in Week 18 to gain a berth in the playoffs. HC Matt LaFleur recalled being in a similar situation last year when they also needed a win over Chicago in Week 18 to reach the postseason but lost.
โWe were in a similar situation a year ago and couldnโt get it done,โ LaFleur said, via PackersWire. โSo, we know itโs going to be a tremendous challenge. I think Chicago is as improved as any team, when you look at them from Week 1 to where they are now. Theyโve done a really, really good the last few weeks.โ
Vikings
- Vikings HC Kevin OโConnell says the team is not going to base their opinion of QB Jaren Hall on what happened against the Packers: โWhat weโve got to do โฆ [is] make sure he knows this is not by any means a period on the end of what we think of Jaren Hall.โ (Kevin Seifert)
- The Vikings officially signed LB Abraham Beauplan to the practice squad on Tuesday.
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