After the Chicago Bears started the 2022 season 2-1, no one thought the team would end up with the worst record in football and the first-overall pick. The Bears lost 10 games in a row to end the season and were lucky enough to earn the top pick thanks to Houston winning in Week 17. Had the Texans lost to the Colts, they would have ended up with the first pick and the DJ Moore trade probably wouldn't have happend for the second pick in the draft.
The Chicago Bears seemed set at the quarterback position with Justin Fields but nothing is for certain. The team could have decided to move in a different direction since the new regime of Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus was not the front office that drafted him.
Chicago Bears biggest offseason move was one not made
Ryan Poles went on the Rich Eisen show to discuss the decision to stick with Justin Fields vs using the first-overall pick.
🗣️ Ryan Poles
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 31, 2023
The biggest move of the #NFL offseason was the one not made — the @ChicagoBears GM talked us through keeping Justin Fields and trading the first pick to Carolina:#NFLTrainingCamp #GoBears pic.twitter.com/azkMaVKtGg
"We had to take some time with that decision. You never want to be in that spot but opportunities can present itself. We just had to figure out how we wanted to do that. We went through the whole process and had to look at all of the quarterbacks and how can we impact our team in the biggest way."Ryan Poles, Chicago Bears GM
Poles went on to talk about Justin Fields and what he saw from the sophomore quarterback.
" I was really encouraged on the way Justin [Fields] played in terms of making plays. I'm excited to see him take that next step as a passer. I really believe if we get both things going it can be a really dangerous combination and help our team get to the next level. "Ryan Poles, Chicago Bears GM
The Chicago Bears scouting department took a look at what the roster would look like if they drafted one of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft versus keeping Justin, adding draft capital and even gaining DJ Moore. The team decided that keeping Fields while adding a player like DJ Moore to the mix was the best path forward for 2023 and beyond. Poles has two first-round picks at his disposal next year and early reports are Fields and Moore have looked great this offseason.
Now, it is just a matter of if the offense can come together this season. Justin Field needs to prove himself as a passer and I have all the faith in the world he will do that.