Fields and his dislocated thumb

Those are all good points.  What depressed me (and I'm sure you too) is that the team will be set back with a coaching and QB reset.  I understand the need for it, but that doesn't mean it's a pleasant thought.  It's kind of like getting surgery done that is necessary but still painful to endure the rehab and recovery that follows.  A reset is necessary but I so dread the setback because I thought that this time we had finally turned a corner here with the new GM/HC and Fields.  Worse, is the thought that there is zero guarantee that a reset will be successful. 

In my head I think of what the offense needs to truly support yet another young QB coming in - and I'm not wanting to see the Bears lose focus by spending resources on defense.  Oh, I get the need.  A team has to have a baseline of talent on defense too.  But the top-level draft and cap resources are limited (the top level) and I so want to see them spent on (finally) building a solid offense - complete with a QB who can run the offense. 

I know the offense has had investment in the past but the offense is still pitiful.  Going forward we need investment - and investment in the resources that fix the problem.  Not half-fix it.  LOL, today I've been dealing with our plumber in our home (long story)... but the comparison would be investing a ton of money "fixing" the plumbing but the plumbing still has pipes leaking everywhere.  I may have spent a fortune on the plumbing bill.  But if the problems are not fixed, well, that isn't getting me anywhere.  Same with the Bears not getting a good return on their O investment.  

I think the honest reality of this is we all wanted Fields to be the guy. This will all but likely be his 3rd HC in 4 years, and he's still having the same issues he had as a rookie. I would think a new HC would want to get "his QB" and build that relationship together. Me personally would want Maye in the 1st or Nix in the 2nd/3rd right now. I'm sure there's other QBs out there that I haven't seen play at all, but of the big 3 Williams, Maye, Nix the one I want the least involvement with is Williams. He reminds me of Fields right now. We will see though.

Wait… Bears already have Johnson's replacement → Stevenson. Gordon is in the slot and Terell Smith is poised for a bigger role in 2024.

As far as Jackson, Hicks has already begun to fill his role. Not well, but he's at least as good as BoJack has been post new contract.

There's litte to suggest Poles/a new GM would *need* to take either position high.

If that is the case then sure trade them. But you will still need a S and CB to fill those roster slots. I'm not arguing for keeping them, all I'm saying is that we did the tear down, Johnson is young and worth keeping. Why create two holes? And if our argument for keeping Hicks is that he's playing but (by your admissions) "not well" at playing safety I'd rather keep BoJack as a vet in that young secondary.

Trade um, don't trade um it won't matter by the time a new QB is up and running. But if Jackson and Johnson are let go I'm willing to wager that the Bears draft a CB and a S by by the time the third round is over.