I would say that was a possibility if he knew he was getting the #1 pick, but there was no way for him to know that.
But maybe he didn't care what pick he got. He had the general plan in mind no matter what. But I tend to think he was waiting to see how Fields would play. I mean if a guy plays like Brady or Mahommes, you deal with his cap and build around it. You don't try and reset the cap.
+1 It looked like the Bears were giving Fields that 3rd season to showcase his value. If it were not for that 1st overall pick of the draft I think Fields probably did enough to keep his job. But once the Bears ended up with that 1st pick of the draft in a year where a really great prospect was available to them (Caleb), it made it hard to not draft CW. Fields did show improvement but the Bears had to weigh that against Caleb Williams who looks to be better than Fields, and who also offered them a financial reset. Both. It was like the perfect-storm facing Fields' retention. Now that I've had some time to process the whole thing, I"m convinced it came down to Fields not doing enough to counter-balance taking talent of Caleb Williams that also came with that reset of a rookie contract QB1.
Make no mistake. If Fields shown starter QB quality. He would still be here and we would be grabbing Harrison Jr and either Alt at #9 or a DE. If Fields looked like Dak or Cousins he still be here. In a way I wish Fields was that guy as we could use two picks to improve the team outside of a QB but he's not and is a backup with the Steelers.
You can't be a starting QB and not throw for 3k yards once. Heck the standard should be 3.5k yards min. Total yards is meaningless for a passing league.
Here is an article about Williams. WARNING - not every word is positive. I hope none of our posters hunts this guy down and he has to go on deathwatch.
Here is an article about Williams. WARNING - not every word is positive. I hope none of our posters hunts this guy down and he has to go on deathwatch.
Thanks for the warning. The rumor is that if we click on a negative Caleb Williams article link, that the CIA is tracking this information now ... it is some bot AI thing to identify us as 'Mericans who do not like the Caleb draft pick'.... *shudder* I confess that I clicked on it. I'm a goner for sure.
Here is an article about Williams. WARNING - not every word is positive. I hope none of our posters hunts this guy down and he has to go on deathwatch.
Thanks for the warning. The rumor is that if we click on a negative Caleb Williams article link, that the CIA is tracking this information now ... it is some bot AI thing to identify us as 'Mericans who do not like the Caleb draft pick'.... *shudder* I confess that I clicked on it. I'm a goner for sure.
I don’t read anything about Williams not posted here. I’ll just wait to see him on the field.
Here is an article about Williams. WARNING - not every word is positive. I hope none of our posters hunts this guy down and he has to go on deathwatch.
Thanks for the warning. The rumor is that if we click on a negative Caleb Williams article link, that the CIA is tracking this information now ... it is some bot AI thing to identify us as 'Mericans who do not like the Caleb draft pick'.... *shudder* I confess that I clicked on it. I'm a goner for sure.
Did you read the article in The Athletic ranking all the rosters heading into the draft? Bears rank #25. That seems ridiculously low. We should be no lower than #10 if Williams plays well.
Thanks for the warning. The rumor is that if we click on a negative Caleb Williams article link, that the CIA is tracking this information now ... it is some bot AI thing to identify us as 'Mericans who do not like the Caleb draft pick'.... *shudder* I confess that I clicked on it. I'm a goner for sure.
Did you read the article in The Athletic ranking all the rosters heading into the draft? Bears rank #25. That seems ridiculously low. We should be no lower than #10 if Williams plays well.
I do believe us Bears fans heavily over-value our existing talent. It's not "bad" talent. But I don't think it is a good as we want to believe. But, that being said, I think we have the kind of roster that has a number of players who are needing some key "multiplier players added" that will allow many of these existing guys to be very very good. Adding Caleb Williams and a great blue chip guy at #9 will work wonders here, elevating the overall team.
Over and over again I think the play of this year's offensive line will make-or-break our season. If the OL struggles (for any reason, including starter injuries and crappy depth players behind them) - then don't expect much good to happen on offense this year. The ceiling will have been lowered by the OL.
Or.
If that offensive line is solid, then that ceiling will be pretty darned high this season. The D will have a serviceable floor no matter what happens, or doesn't happen in this draft. My hope is that the new additions to the OL are solid and one of those centers is rock solid. Brax and Wright need to take the next development step too (I think they will). Maybe the best outcome for this draft would be to get that blue chip WR at #9 and then follow up with the best OL left at #75. I've heard NFL people saying there are tackles in this draft who will slide into the G position... maybe a really good (upside) guy will be there at #75 for us. Jenkins/Davis would have a solid developmental guy behind them. And maybe that guy could one of the top centers dropping that far (Frazier, (has played G and C) or Van Pran or Barton from Duke has played everything from LT to C). Those guys should be able to play any of the IOL positions at a high level.
Did you read the article in The Athletic ranking all the rosters heading into the draft? Bears rank #25. That seems ridiculously low. We should be no lower than #10 if Williams plays well.
I do believe us Bears fans heavily over-value our existing talent. It's not "bad" talent. But I don't think it is a good as we want to believe. But, that being said, I think we have the kind of roster that has a number of players who are needing some key "multiplier players added" that will allow many of these existing guys to be very very good. Adding Caleb Williams and a great blue chip guy at #9 will work wonders here, elevating the overall team.
Over and over again I think the play of this year's offensive line will make-or-break our season. If the OL struggles (for any reason, including starter injuries and crappy depth players behind them) - then don't expect much good to happen on offense this year. The ceiling will have been lowered by the OL.
Or.
If that offensive line is solid, then that ceiling will be pretty darned high this season. The D will have a serviceable floor no matter what happens, or doesn't happen in this draft. My hope is that the new additions to the OL are solid and one of those centers is rock solid. Brax and Wright need to take the next development step too (I think they will). Maybe the best outcome for this draft would be to get that blue chip WR at #9 and then follow up with the best OL left at #75. I've heard NFL people saying there are tackles in this draft who will slide into the G position... maybe a really good (upside) guy will be there at #75 for us. Jenkins/Davis would have a solid developmental guy behind them. And maybe that guy could one of the top centers dropping that far (Frazier, (has played G and C) or Van Pran or Barton from Duke has played everything from LT to C). Those guys should be able to play any of the IOL positions at a high level.
Bates and Davis are the two I worry about on the OL. I am fine with OL at #75, or try to trade down for JPJ if Odunze is gone before #9.