DABEARSDABOMB

He said it on ESPN radio. Said he thinks for sure a 2 and a good chance a 1. With that said, I wonder who would offer a 1. Raiders were a possibility but I don’t see it happening. Falcons are the crazy odd ball scenario I suppose. Steelers is probably only team I can think of - but who would they be bidding against. Now I could see more teams offer a future 1st. Bucs if Mayfield left would be another possibility. Maybe Seattle?

Schefty commented today he thinks Fields gets a 2nd rounder for sure and decent shot a first rounder

1st rounder for Justin would be great. In my mind that is a huge win and its great for Fields too.

It comes down to me - what happens with Caleb and the person taken at 2. If Caleb becomes the dude - a top 5 QB - than the 40th pick, 102, and a 1st rounder next year is not at all worth giving up on a top 5 QB. Now if it turns out Caleb and the #2 pick are both Top 5 guys - or the 2nd pick ends up being event better - than yeah - why not do that. Unfortunately we don't have a delorean to see the future.

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2024/2/2/24058163/fact-check-caleb-williams-solid-ranked-opponent-jj-mccarthy-jayden-daniels-drake-maye-nfl-draftbears

Biggs has said everyone he has talked to have said that is what Bears will/should do.

He also was quoted a week or so ago saying he will play anywhere. Rapport reported something similar and Biggs, who in my mind is an excellent writer, said all the smoke from social media is a bunch of bs and that in real NFL circles the general view on Williams soft skills and character is positive. Biggs said it and he doesn’t just spew nonsense. You also have his teammates coming out and backing that up too. This is not a George Pickens or Jalen Carter - this is more like when whomever it was said Fields wasn’t a hard worker and spewed bullshit (which wasn’t true). If anything teams are trying to do anything to try and manufacture a reason for Bears not to take him. Biggs had a quote from one GM - who said I hope they stick with Fields and trade Williams for a hall but that was just wishful thinking on his part hoping Bears wouldn’t take him.

This time the league knows Bears are keeping the pick. Last year - I think league knew they probably weren't moving the pick so there was some early talk - even than - most of the national league chatter a year ago was on will they take Jalen Carter or someone else at 1 or move down. Not a ton of talk last year about Bears going QB path. I think after the interviews - enough people probably got a perception of where Bears lean and quite frankly I think they also just look at it and see a GM who didn't draft the guy and a coach who didn't either.

It is pretty clear and we are seeing it with more and more reports coming out of NY - the system Hackett and Getzy and them run is really really designed around Rodgers. It is super complicated and really not young QB friendly. With that said - it is working in Green Bay - so maybe that is a testament to Love or its a testament to LaFleur knowing how to teach the structure, etc. It might also be just the fact that Love sat for a few years in that system so he was to a point where he could play in structure and succeed. But yeah - the Bears have definitely upgraded the staff on paper. I also like that they all come from similar trees and Waldron has worked with them all or at least most of them.

This is a stellar hire. I love what they have been doing with offensive staff.

I very happy with this. He is a good coach and I expected Flus to call plays.

Haha - I’m now putting all my energy on the qb and mhj. But more than anything I want Bears to win the Super Bowl sometime before I’m wearing diapers again haha. Best thing is - I know we all want the same thing. I will say Fields is probably the easiest qb to root for in my lifetime as a Bears fan.

I’ve said it before - they are taking a qb.

No interest - as position(s) coach fine. But not as a DC. I will say the Bills AsstHC/Dline coach we interviewed looks really interesting. They have a very good defense and their pass rush has been excellent the past few years.

I'd put 1000 to 1 odds that the Bears are staying at 1 and taking a QB. Barring the top QB's all having massive off the field scandals or something else that makes them undraftable - the Bears are going to pick a QB at 1 and move on from Justin. Justin will go somewhere else and be a solid starter and he certainly might even become better than that. He could be the type of guy that if you are patient he'll continue to make strides and eventually have some seasons where he is a top 10 QB. But I also currently have him as a Bottom 10 QB, so that is probably where my view differs from the keep Justin crowd. I think he's 3 years in - he is bottom 10 - do I think he can improve - absolutely, he just has such strong leadership, physical traits, and work ethic, that he will 100% continue to improve. I Just think that puts him in the 10-20 category and you don't build around that type of guy, no matter how great the work ethic.

Beliceck the coach is outstanding. Beli the GM is horrendous. I Think I read that it had been 10 YEARS since they signed a draft pick to a 2nd contract. That isn't because they are trading people early - that is because they literally haven't drafted any blue chip players in, well, forever. The bright side is - if Flus blows up - the Bears could always hire a Beli or Vrabel next cycle if they wanted to (cause it seems like neither of them will get HC gigs).

This - to me the data showed one thing - that you need to find that stud at QB. Without that - you need to keep trying. You can scratch out a good year every now and than - but if you don't have a top 5-7 QB - you are not going to be a consistent power. If you have that guy - you may have ebs and flows - but you are going to consistently win and make the playoffs and thus have a shot at making a run in the post-season and getting to the big game.

On your Flus comment - one question would be cause vs. correlation. We saw Beli become human as soon as Brady left. Who knows what Payton is without Brees. But the reality is - GB had multiple coaches in that timeframe - why did they stay great - cause of Aaron Rodgers. Basically didn't matter who the HC was - GB's down seasons almost always correlated to Rodgers getting hurt.

The only thing I will state is: Trubisky / Mahomes / Watson / Field wasn't the same as say Trevor Lawrence or Andrew Luck. In some cases - guys were clearly at the top - there was no waver and it lasted for multiple years. Now I'm not saying either of them panned out as high as one might think - but they were clearly there. Caleb Williams from a hype perspective - is more like Trevor and Andrew in the sense that they have been talked about by media and NFL people alike for basically 2 seasons. A year ago it was already being talked about to tank for Caleb (even though he was a full year away). That is very different than the - we have no clear #1 and when you look at film teams are going to argue amongst the field for who is where. The Trubisky/Mahomes/Watson year was very clearly one of those years - but in fairness - everyone thought that group had immense talent. They weren't wrong - 2 of the 3 were on probowl trajectories 4 years into their career (Watson's has since crashed and burned).

My favorite mock draft possible: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mock-draft-fields-headed-patriots-162604963.html Caleb at 1 MHJ at 3 (Bears trade up with New England giving up #9, Fields and 2025 6th rounder; Bears get back #3 pick, 4th rounder, and 2025 3rd and 5th rounder) Note: This would be a coup de coup. I don't believe for one second what the author proposes is realistic, but boy would I be happy. I presume only way this type of haul happens is if there is at least a mid to late 1st round grade applied to Fields.

This - they need to draft one and sign a stop gap. Can’t plug a rookie in out of the gate unless they earn it cause center does have some bigger nuances around getting into protections, etc.

A couple data points: 1) Eberflus saying good things about Fields - doesn't mean he's overly loyal. I think everyone recognizes Field(s) work ethic, character, leadership and physical gifts are off the charts. He checks almost every single box - it is why the decision is so hard. He also I think is striking the right balance - if he went in and ripped Fields, what kind of a message does that send. Both in terms of - that will get its way back in Field(s) and does nothing good. Beyond that - Flus saying good things about Field(s) prevents anything he says from tainting trade value or giving a tell. I also think there is just a purity of - having strong character and being kind - can actually be a good thing in the long run and how Flus & Poles handle stuff like this - some could say too nice - but on flipside, as long as you are steady in your actual decision-making and clear in communication, I think NFL players will respect that. 2) Absolutely having a chance for people to know they are going to have an opportunity to work with either Fields or a potential #1 pick is going to drive value vs. an org who has David Carr or whatever there. Not knocking Carr, quite frankly he is 2x the QB production wise that Field(s) has ever been - but Carr is what he is at this point - a middle of the road vet. That isn't going to be that thrilling for an OC vs. a team with a #1 & #9 pick and tons of cap space.

To me on the trade market - I don't think Chargers or Bills are flipping Allen or Herbert anytime soon. Dolphins I suppose could with Tua (cause he's about to get paid). The other intriguing team is Cowboys with Dak. Dak is also more nearing end of his deal so I presume would be easier to flip. The downfall is - the amount of capital Dallas has to move up to #1 seems insane / unattainable. Meaning - I think the #1 pick is more valuable than Dak - but what if Dallas wanted to make a move for a new QB - they offer Dak, 1st rounder & 2nd rounder this year, plus next year(s) 1st. Bears than acquire Dak and extend him to a team friendly deal (Dak would have to be on board). Dak isn't top 3 good - but he's squarely in the 5-7 good and he's a real good leader and great dude. Bears know they have certainty a QB - they still have more picks - but now there only top pick this year is that #9 pick (I don't know - maybe Dallas has more draft capital than I know I haven't looked). But could Dallas do it - maybe Dak just quietly says I want out - I'm over the drama.

I am sure I don’t fully understand the offset but if we could get Wilson 3 years at 500k for him to stick to to Denver and Bears can just build a monster team - well I would be all over it too.

Your wild card strategy….Bears sign Russel Wilson, trade the first for a fortune and trade Justin. Why you ask? Because Wilson post cut has offset language in his contract so Bears could pay him league minimum for a couple years and just built a monster around him. Note: I am not really proposing the above - but I guarantee there is an analytics model somewhere that says that would be a brilliant idea.