Flash Tizzle

We should know from years of Rick Hahn offseasons that there’s rarely a master plan. Everything is as it appears. Sure it’s possible he is holding back from top tier FA targets because he is going to trade the #1 pick, and use the draft capital. But it’s easier to accept that than the alternative of not signing the best options in positions of need and high cap space

The narrative of passing over Stroud was building during the playoffs. In Poles address to the media after the season, he (understandingly) sidetracked questions concerning Stroud. Great, but internally I’d hope there were some discussions about what the Bears missed and how they can learn from it moving forward. Passing over Stroud is made easier to stomach given the mulligan of having the top pick in this draft. I can hear the response from people “it’s tough evaluating QBs,” “many generational QBs flop,” “Bears cannot evaluate QBs” whatever. They’re all excuses. It’s his job and if they cannot find the right QB, especially in this draft, then they deserve to be fired.

There’s so many people on social media delusional about the reality of what’s going on. If I was told there was some AI program inputing pro-Fields comments I would atleast have a valid explanation. Other then, “Caleb is a bust, Caleb doesn’t want to play for Chicago, trade for a haul and build around Fields.” I just don’t get it. Even if you genuinely believe Caleb is not a generational talent, there are other QB options. Are they busts as well? I know I’m not exclusively in a pro-Caleb camp, as much as the one where we get the right one. If they believe it’s Daniels, Maye, McCarthy, whomever; just get it right. If they REALLY believe Fields is the answer, so be it. But for the sake of Poles’ job security, none of those QB options better outperform Fields. Otherwise, Fields would have to take a massive step forward. And let’s say he does - you all know damn well we’ll be debating if he’s worth 30+ million, or would any QB succeed with the weapons the Bears have?

I’d think Poles. Especially if he personally let Fields know he was being traded and they were moving on. Now, if you were Poles, what do you tell Fields? He said he wanted to do right by him. Well, what is that exactly? Keep him around until someone is desperate?

I honestly believe that so much of their off-season plan was reliant on Fields bringing in at least a second round pick, and now they have to adjust without it. But unfortunately, they are already limited with draft capital outside of #1 and #9 You want to talk about setting up your QB for success? Sign a veteran and have Williams sit. If they value intangibles like a good locker room, don’t even allow an opportunity for a Fields/Williams QB controversy.

Yep. And I’d guarantee one of those two are trading up for McCarthy.

The only people fooled are a large percentage of Bears fans, who still want to build around him. And the random outspoken media personality.

Lol right, like Cease. We went from “wait until the offseason,” to “wait until the deadline,” to “wait until the offseason,” back to “wait until the deadline.”

This is such a bad look for Fields. No one wants him, atleast for the price Poles is asking.

God, please let this happen. I’d guess for a 3rd round draft pick and a 2025 conditional

If Atlanta signs Cousins, it’s between Vikings and Broncos. Terrible. And you can guarantee, between those two teams and the Raiders, someone is moving up for McCarthy. We may have to seriously consider trading him to be a backup QB. It’s not just a negotiating tactic, no one wants Fields. And if they are considering keeping him past the draft, it’ll be a disaster. “Wait until draft day,” “Wait until training camp,”Wait until the season when a starter goes down.” Unload the baggage and move on. We’re not going to pick up a 5th year option on him, so why have Fields playing disgruntled and looking over his shoulder?

I agree, but on the other hand if Mac Jones was bringing in a 3rd or 4th rounder we’d be pretty confident in Fields being worth atleast a 2nd. Cousins apparently makes his decision to test FA tonight. If the Vikings cant figure it out by tonight, he’s basically gone. You don’t let him hit the market knowing several teams will be interested.

If Mac Jones is worth a 6th round pick, I’d be concerned if I was the Bears. A 3rd rounder may be what’s in store if the Falcons sign Cousins.

They’re not directly related, but Poles fortune with trading the #1 pick last year (and ending up with #1 again) has bought him a bit of leeway it seems. Now, if he botches the draft and has some terrible return for Fields, everything will immediately change. For now, a lot of Bears fans believe in Poles and have chosen to ignore the Claypool debacle.

Yeah, but what hurts here is there is no bluffing. We cannot say, well, if you don’t give us what we want, we will just keep Fields. Or, if you do not give us what we want, we will just give him to one of the 10 other teams interested. The market is limited, and he is not coming back. If Poles wants to wait this out to hope for a 2nd round pick, good luck. He’s a better poker player than I would be with a bad hand.

There’s lot of cope among Bears fans trying to explain why Poles traded a 5th round pick for Bates, who likely would have been cut from the Bills anyway. What’s the most likely scenario here - Poles “got his guy” and wanted to act quickly before he hit the market? Or (I believe the more likely scenario) he was duped by the Bills trying to get something of value before cutting him. Which, on its own isn’t a big deal - but my God some of the excuses and justifications is like Sox fans trying to rationalize overpaying for a utility infielder.

I agree, and I’d go a step further and suggest he should be gone before the start of free agency. The Bears benefit from having more trading partners. If we have to wait for Cousins to sign for everything to fall into place, that’s a terrible gamble. Especially if the negotiations carry on for weeks. Or worse if Atlanta signs him and now it’s Pittsburgh and…..Minnesota (which no one wants) Fields’ trade value shouldn’t be such a concern. You would think we don’t have the number one and number nine pick. If they want a second rounder, just trade down from number nine. Or give up a 2025 second rounder for one this year.

At some point he had to let everyone know that Fields was for sale. If not the combine, when? We already knew coming in the market for him was thin. I’m fine with cutting losses and trading Fields for a 3rd rounder. In the scenario ss2k5 presented, let’s say we are now weeks into free agency and Fields is still here. Are we willing to hold out and keep him on the roster past the draft? If the answer is no, then it’s not worth the headaches to MAYBE get a 2nd round pick.

Even if this is just to bolster their line a bit, doesn’t it seem very rushed to do it right now?

I wonder if their offseason plan heavily depended on Fields bringing atleast a 2nd round pick, and now they’re scrambling a bit. We don’t know their overall plan (although we can assume Williams is the number one pick) but why do this and give up our already limited draft capital?

I don’t think his stock has fallen as much as these WR and QB options pushing him down a bit. He probably won’t make it far past 10. It really seems like Olu’s stock has dipped a bit too in mock drafts. Which is always strange when things change months after any of these players have had a single snap lol. It will be interesting to see how the combine goes for the O linemen

Odunze may have helped his draft status even further after the combine yesterday. Today several articles popped up of different teams (Colts, Jaguars) showing interest in trading up in the Top 10 to draft him. If you believe the draft will go some order of: williams, maye, daniels, MHJ, Nabers, Alt, Odunze We may be on the outside at #9. I believe if everything unfolded that way above, we would either take a defensive pick (Verse, Turner) or just trade down and recoup a 2nd rounder. Which may not be a bad plan B

It’s funny, I just read an article in The Athletic where several executives thought his value could be more than we expect. It’s all over the place, and really depends on how willing someone is to just throw out a 2nd round pick and be done with the QB search before the start if free agency

We need to unload Fields. Stop pushing along this distraction narrative that has lingered on for months. Everyone knows we’re not shopping the #1 pick. If Falcons get the better of us, ok. We do have the #1 and #9 picks; we’ll be fine. And If they want that 2nd rounder soooo bad then trade down from #9.

There’s no way we should enter next season with unnecessary distractions. We’re setting Caleb (or another QB) up for failure right away. All for what, we were holding out for a pipe-dream second round pick? Maybe a third with a second round conditional next season? It’s just not worth it. Personally, I was hoping Fields would have been conditionally traded before the QB portion of the combine tomorrow. It’s going to be so predictable, one or more of Nix, McCarthy or Penix will have multiple teams fall in love and raise their value. We don’t want Atlanta thinking about trading down and taking McCarthy. There aren’t enough teams interested in Fields, as it is. There are times where it’s ok to admit defeat. Fields trade value is one. We absolutely cannot “do right by him” by keeping him in limbo