Chicago Bears decision at QB is more nuanced than Justin Fields vs. Caleb Williams

What are the Chicago Bears getting by keeping Justin Fields?

Well, the Bears would be getting an elite athlete who has elite skills and traits. The only problem is that he is not consistent and this is the whole reason why we are even having this conversation. Fields looks lights out one game and struggles the next. The playcalling doesn't help most of the time and we've seen some awful drops lately — looking at you Robert Tonyan! Not enough Fields fans are objective with the situation though. Fields has flaws. He has improved sure, but he needs to improve even more and quickly. He's entering Year 4 of his rookie deal.

However, this also means they get whatever they can in a trade of the first-overall pick. Rumors are that Chicago could come away with three first-round picks. That would be quite impressive. They could also come away with a similar trade to what they received last year when trading the first pick overall to the Panthers. That trade included two first-round picks, an additional future second-round pick and even D.J. Moore. Could Ryan Poles land another strong veteran player in a deal? What if it was Maxx Crosby from the Raiders? What if it was Daron Payne from Washington?

At a minimum, Ryan Poles needs to look at Justin Fields and say, this isn't just about Justin Fields and his potential future contract (they don't technically need to decide on a contract extension right away and could even ignore his fifth-year option). No, it's about what that first-overall pick is worth. Should Ryan Poles get three firsts to trade down from first overall, that is insane value. Poles would need to know for a fact that Caleb Williams is a lock to be good to elite if he were to walk away from that trade value.

For fun, let's assume they trade down within the top five, land a player like Marvin Harrison, Jr., Joe Alt, Olu Fashanu or maybe even Brock Bowers depending on how far down they go. As it stands the Bears own the eighth pick too (their own). Mock drafts have shown them moving down one or two spots, grabbing Marvin Harrison and then also grabbing one of the aforementioned prospects. They will have two firsts in 2025 and 2026 (if things go well) and they can replace Fields then.