I’m not comfortable at all. This season was all about evaluating him with no excuses. So far, I see a lot of the same issues at hand. Not making the tight throws, not reading the defense well enough, not working through his progressions and holding the ball way too long.
If you look at all the QB contracts in the league, when they were signed, and the annual average, I actually don't think its that crazy based off the way things are trending with QB contracts. Burrows extension kicks in next season and he'll be paid an average of $55 mill per year. I think we all agree Fields hasn't had the success Burrow has had, we could argue the reasons why, but thats not the point of this debate. $12 mill less a year than Burrow? That doesn't seem crazy to me.
Next up in annual average value is Justin Herbert at $52.5 mill. His extension also kicks in next season. He's shown some issues of his own and is 0-1 in the playoffs. Nearly $10 mill less than Herbert seems crazy to some of you? Hell, Kyler "I'd rather play Call of Duty" Murray and Deshaun Watson are each making $46 mill a year!!!
So no, I don't think $43 mill average a year is crazy, and will probably look like an even more unbelievable deal in a couple years.
We've argued over and over about market value. This is what QB contracts are these days. Its a bit early still to be discussing this. Bears still have next season + 5th year option + a tag before they have to talk with Fields about a contract. The risk is what I call the "Daniel Jones Risk." You can't overpay, BUT and this is the hard part...if you underpay he walks. Hindsight the Jones contract looks like a disaster (and we all knew it was a disaster at the time, Giants should have as well) but if they hadn't paid what he wanted, he walks. And at the time...then what?
Some will say "bring in a midrange guy who can run the OFF better than Fields and will cost less." Still waiting for a list of those guys. Go to spotrac or underthecap and look at the FA QBS (current and projected), find me the "midrange" option just sitting there.
I'm not arguing for or against Fields at this point. I'm on record as saying I would trade him and restart the rookie QB clock. Even more so after seeing the Chargers waste Herbert's rookie contract.
We've argued over and over about market value. This is what QB contracts are these days. Its a bit early still to be discussing this. Bears still have next season + 5th year option + a tag before they have to talk with Fields about a contract. The risk is what I call the "Daniel Jones Risk." You can't overpay, BUT and this is the hard part...if you underpay he walks. Hindsight the Jones contract looks like a disaster (and we all knew it was a disaster at the time, Giants should have as well) but if they hadn't paid what he wanted, he walks. And at the time...then what?
Some will say "bring in a midrange guy who can run the OFF better than Fields and will cost less." Still waiting for a list of those guys. Go to spotrac or underthecap and look at the FA QBS (current and projected), find me the "midrange" option just sitting there.
I'm not arguing for or against Fields at this point. I'm on record as saying I would trade him and restart the rookie QB clock. Even more so after seeing the Chargers waste Herbert's rookie contract.
Giants really screwed themselves with the whole Daniels/Barkley situation. By not picking up Daniels 5th year option they were forced to choose between franchising Daniels or Barkley. Because they felt like they couldn't lose both they signed Daniels to the contract they did and can't get out of it until 2025 with a $22 mill dead cap hit. Bears don't have that situation. They have his 5th year option still...and I'd feel more than comfortable picking that up at the least.
To your point...here are the QB's who are projected to be available this off season and their market value according to Spotrac:
1. Kurt Cousins, 35 years old: $39.6 Mil AAV per year, 3 years $118 mill total (probably all guaranteed based on his last 2 or 3 contracts)
2. Ryan Tannehill, 35 years old: $5 mill AAV, 1 year $5 mill total (they're projecting him as a backup...which is what he should be)
The rest of the list is pretty gross! Jacoby Brisset, Tyrod Taylor, Josh Dobbs, Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, etc. You guys cool rolling with any of that over Fields? LOL...lets be real here. The market is what the market is.
Post by bearsfaninaz on Dec 13, 2023 15:20:44 GMT -6
Fields isn't worth 44M a year. He's mid to below tier for passing QBs, and that's ultimately what they are paid on. Next would be availability. He's guaranteed to miss 2+ games a year as that's what he's done so far in his career. He's 22nd ranked in TD passes.
We've argued over and over about market value. This is what QB contracts are these days.
This ^^^^^ Prices are always going up.
Roquan got market value from Ravens. They are thrilled to have him. Poles said himself that he doesn’t value ILB that high, and stuck by his guns to the end. Let’s hope we don’t have same problem with JJ. If JJ gets his extension without a lot of drama with Poles, that would be good news for Fields.
