Really don't get why people are struggling to believe this so much on here and rNFL. It's really not that insane of a concept plus the other offers were probably only marginally better.
It's a cheap way to get a very nice reputation with both players AND their agents. Could always be useful in future situations
And the difference in draft pick was probably marginal, so Poles probably couldn't care less
I don't mind it
People are acting like these reports are saying he was offered 1st round picks and chose a 6th instead. We're most likely talking about the difference between a 5th and a 6th lol.
Seriously lol. At the end of the day, we traded our backup QB with a bad contract situation coming up. Usually those guys are just released. And if he becomes the starter, it becomes a fourth. Pretty decent trade in my opinion.
The talent was big too. Fields has not progressed on how he processes or reads the field.
Williams will be a rookie, but any NFL team needing a qb makes the move the Bears are going to
Everything thus far says it’s a talent, contract, and strategy upgrade to keep building a winning team
We’re Chicago sports fans. Yet we don’t remember the damage done by the perceived treatment of MJ had on the Bulls with free agents or the perceived treatment of Lovie Smith and Urlacher had on the Bears locker room.
I still somewhat doubt Poles would decline a significantly better offer for Fields sake but if there is an agent you do it for it’s Fields agent. Dude is very powerful
It's a classy gesture for sure. It's still odd to me it was okay to not get a 5th or 6th this year for Fields. Why couldn't he get the Steelers to bump their offer even a little bit. We've been arguing that giving up a 5th for Bates didn't really matter. Why shouldn't it matter the Steeler's give up a 5th? Whether or not it's a classy move, Poles did get a bit embarrassed by the Steelers again.
A fifth this year would've probably been worth it but the general opinion is this is a weak late-round draft class. So a 6th this year might be worse than a 6th next year.
It's not my 1st language so now I'm actually not entirely certain if you are serious or if it's said in jest
IF serious, is it a common mistake that I'm not aware of?
No no. You said it correctly. Most English speakers say “I could care less” which is incorrect. “Couldn’t care less” is the correct usage. The fact English is a second language makes it even more impressive
Because people are in “shit all over anything fiekds related mode”. Probably some combination of over exposure and being salty about their own qb poverty.
It goes beyond fields imo. We’ve really become a punching bag for fans, like the default response for anything we do is hate. Montez sweat trade, Jalen Carter pick trade, both objectively the right move for our org still got shit on for them when they happened.
He's been a solid GM IMO, but I also don't think he's free of criticism, and there are certain contingents on this sub who will bend over backwards to make every excuse in the book for him.
Dude has had some major whiffs, but overall he's set the Bears up for some legit, sustained success if Caleb is the real deal. The Bears haven't had a GM who has done that since Finks.
The Claypool trade in particular will always be a blemish on his record (even though I supported it to start and he moved on as soon as it was apparent that that was a bad move).
But overall he has set this franchise up for success so far. The supposed best prospect since Luck will have two WRs to throw to who each had over 1000 yards last year and two strong TEs for an OC that has historically wanted that. The defense has a strong, young secondary with a decent front 7 that could potentially be better after the draft (depending on what happens at 9).
Everything could fall apart in the next year (see 2019), but the future is bright.
haven't you heard? Caleb is going to be a 10x super bowl winner and hall of famer.
We only just started talking about him this year as a top prospect, but he's the best since Peyton!
> there are certain contingents on this sub who will bend over backwards to make every excuse in the book for him.
The contingent that hyper ventilates over every move he makes is larger and far more irrational. I really don't see people saying things like the Claypool trade was great, the best I see is people saying it was defendable as a gamble given the situation.
However there's no shortage of people making extraordinarily dumb criticisms of Poles calling for his head at the drop of a hat over moves that ultimately prove to be great. People who absolutely refuse to acknowledge things like 3rd day draft picks rarely turn into starters or even reliable backups. Or refuse to acknowledge the value of exclusive negotiating rights, despite the fact they're why the really good players rarely hit free agency.
can you fucking imagine if Bears fans think we finally escape him once he retires, only for him to one day become POTUS?
Long shot sure, but look at some of the recent ones.
A lot of opposing fans don't watch the Bears and I don't blame them, largely because we've been pretty bad over the last decade. But it's become a popular narrative that we can't get anything right so other fans judge us with that in mind. It's annoying because I've talked to some friends and coworkers who read things online about the Bears but whenever I ask them if they've actually watched any games, they always say no. Most fans just don't have a clue and it's just something we gotta accept. I tune out other fanbases nowadays.
Oh for sure. My comment def came of as a little victim mentality but we’ve definitely earned a reputation of incompetence. I’m just waiting for the results to start pouring in on field and shift the narrative.
It's all good, I agree with you! I'm also tired of outsiders constantly shitting on the Bears. I know we've been bad but it's annoying how every move or draft pick we make is bad or wrong. I pretty much stopped following most NFL pages because everytime we were brought up, people just ragged on us. Really hoping we can turn it around ASAP.
Probably because we didn't get the majority right over the last 20 years.🤷🏻♂️
They can hate us for being good moving forward. I'm old enough to remember how much they hated the 85 Bears. Didn't bother me at all.
I’m ngl for some reason I’ve always assumed the ‘85 bears were universally loved lmfao. Ig cause they’re so well regarded now I just assumed the whole league at the time just appreciated how awesome they were
Not really. The Super Bowl shuffle rubbed people the wrong way and so did using The fridge as a running back. It sure was fun for us in Chicago though.
Edit-- people did recognize how great that defense was but there was a lot of people that thought we'd blow it.
Fun fact, I went yo the Super Bowl with my dad and we sat in a section of primarily bears fans. When Payton fumbled on the first possession and the patriots kicked a field goal-/ despite losing like 8 yards in their 3 plays-- all the Bears fans were sure we were losing. I was never more sure of a Chicago team winning in my life. I told everybody don't worry instead of winning 45 to nothing we're gonna win 45 to 3 and it came pretty close. lol but that's being a bears fan. Expect the worst.
Jimmy the Greek picked the Rams to beat the Bears in the NFC Championship game. Dickerson has just rushed for over 200 yards to beat Cowboys (I think it was the Cowboys...) and he thought Dickerson would have a field day. Then the first running play from scrimmage and Singletary stood Dickerson up in the hole, and yeah, that pick was wrong.
its this for sure, packer fans are losing their minds because they know there's a good chance that we could be really good the next few years but they are so used to punchingbag bears they are grasping at any straw to hold that reality together for themselves a little longer.
Totally, tho I’d argue if you were familiar with our team there was a stronger case for both of those being the right move at the time as well. Seems like the default for any move we make is that it’s the wrong one though on nfl Reddit and some users on this sub.
Exactly this. Steelers is truly the best place with him. He will have a good mentor in Wilson and possibly take the top spot in the next couple years. I’m happy for him.
Bears fan living in Denver. Watched a fair amount of Broncos (I am also a Badgers fan and watched Russ a lot his Senior year). I like Russ. I believe Russ Wilson is a very good QB, but I think he is one of the most overrated in the league. When they replaced him with Geno Smith in Seattle, OMG, all of s sudden Geno is good!? I think Russ's success in Seattle had more to do with the team and coach. Russ clearly fell very short of the Peyton's grading, because he cannot process fast enough. He is a 2 read QB unless he scrambles (one of his strongest traits is extending plays). Peyton needs a quarterback that can process offenses quickly, and throw to the correct people, not just check down and scramble. If you can run the ball, Russ is an all pro, of not, his weaknesses come to light. He is a top middle third QB, and I think the Steelers are going to struggle next year, unless they can run the ball. I question how much an back QB can learn from him (except maybe how to manage your entourage)
Somehow Justin Fields has gone from a talented but flawed prospect to a dude who is on equal footing with Tim Tebow.
Like he has his flaws, but he's not this overtly awful QB. I don't think he'll ever be elite, but I certainly think he has more promise than some of the other QBs who were moved ahead of him this offseason.
It's largely because a contingent of fans in this sub who make incredibly bad takes have been riding on being right on Fields (but for all the wrong reasons) over the last few months. Betting on QBs not being a top-5 or even top-10 QB is always an easy bet, since that's always the most likely scenario. Statistically haters win
more often, so it's easy to become jaded.
At the end of the day, its the proliferation of Shanahan/McVay offenses which Justin has proven he has trouble with. So these coaches and thus their GMs (namely ATL, MIN, even LV) will prefer a less "gifted" QB that can reliably run their offense over a highlight reel guy that regularly just fails to execute a play. That tree wants their own Brock Purdy, not their own Trey Lance.
It's very clear NFL GMs don't think he's much better than a Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett, etc level QB.
Maybe they are all wrong - but that's what the last week told us.
Did it though? Jones went somewhere hell never start, barring significant injury. The Eagles got Pickett after the Bears wouldn’t send Fields there. I’m not sure the leagues GMs really said anything the last couple weeks.
If Fields could sign as a free agent on a cheap deal he'd have gone somewhere earlier. Teams weren't willing to give up draft capital for someone that's not going to take them anywhere anyway. I disagree that NFL GMs have told us they think those guys are better. Especially given that we turned down offers
I need to get off this sub because y'all are about to make me find another team to root for 😅. This has to be one the most toxic and shitty fandoms on the Internet.
On a human level, Poles knows that he took over and tore down the entire team around Fields instead of trying to build a team that could win on his rookie contract. Taking a marginally worse trade return for that guy on the way out is just the decent thing to do.
He took over a shit organization and needed to fix the shit culture too. Not every team with a shitty culture can stumble onto patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady.
It would’ve been dumb to build a team up around a player he didn’t draft & after that rookie struggled tremendously. The roster needed to be torn down & fields needed to prove he was worth investing in which he did with a 9 game stretch where he was running for 80-178 yards. We upgraded the roster but fields didn’t upgrade his play so I think it’s more about future relationships than any guilt he feels.
Right? "I want to do right by Justin" is flipped into people screaming about Poles getting fleeced and he needs to be fired. Poles saying he'd build through the draft and not overpaying for free agents is flipped into his inability to sign players. Yet, the guy's put the Bears in the best position, going forward, of any GM I can remember.
I try and remind myself how toxic this sub can be. Loom at a Bears IG post (before the trade) and all.of the comments are people begging them to keep Justin. 60k people chanted "we want Justin." His teammates advocate for him and its "what else would they say?"
This place is just a weird negative echo chamber.
I'm excited for him. He went to one of the most stable franchises in the league. Great coach. An OC who might know how to use them. He can learn from Russ. I hope he reaches his potential and I'll be pulling for him.
He’s traded away more draft picks for players with 2 or fewer years of contract left more than anyone else in the league. He is not building through the draft. He is building with draft picks, yes, but he is not building through the draft.
Almost our entire Secondary was built thru the draft; Brisker, Gordon, Stevenson all starters gotten thru the draft. Our O-line tackles are both thru the draft. OP is right that Poles is building thru the draft, Our QB was and will be thru the draft.
There are more starters on the roster from the draft than trades.
Yea, gonna have to call bullshit on that one. We’ve made two trades for players, Sweat and Claypool. Meanwhile have our entire secondary, both starting tackles and several other pieces.
So 6 players which is still which is more than I remembered but guess what it also is, LESS THAN STARTERS DRAFTED. so it is bullshit to say Poles isn’t building thru the draft.
Oh, I meant my first statement - in that he has done more draft pick for rental trades than anyone else in the league. I think if he was building through the draft he wouldn’t do that. You don’t see anyone else doing that as much as Poles
I'm not sure why you are catching hate. His M.O. has been trading drat picks for players to this point. It isn't necessarily a negative, but that is definitely his thing.
I think once Poles realized he wasn't getting a 2nd or 3rd, he might have gotten less to get him to a better spot. He wasn't passing up a day 2 pick to be a bro IMO
It's because the spicier/more entertaining narrative is that bears fans are dumb and poles once again got fleeced. Either way, neither side actually knows shit so the conversation is pointless
Eh - there's nothing wrong with being a little skeptical at these kinds of stories that are clearly spin (whether true or not).
It doesn't really matter anyways as I don't think we were ever getting more than a 4th at best.
I think this was a great move by Poles. While I do think he left money/compensation on the table, he made sure that his man went where he would be comfortable. While I understand that this is a business, if Poles treats his men as if they are actually people and shows he cares about their happiness too, then that is a cultural win for the Bears. On Fields' side, I can see how he would be excited about this opportunity. Even if he has to be the #2 guy in Pittsburgh for a bit, he will be able to actually spend some time learning and developing behind a very comparable QB in Russell Wilson. He will have all the development help in Pittsburgh that he lacked in Chicago, and there isn't really any way this goes badly for him. If he can prove he is working towards improvement and can show he is ready, maybe the Steelers have found their future QB after Wilson retires.
Because Poles already used Rapoport as the mouthpiece for an obvious PR cover that is/was genuinely a lie less than a week ago.
This makes Poles look like he didn’t bungle the trade value, makes him look like a good guy to players, and makes it seem like Justin was more in demand than he was. Little too perfect/convenient in my estimation.
It’s a great PR lie, I’m happy it’s taken hold, but I won’t be surprised if something leaks that bares it for what a lot of us think it is.
Treating Fields like a person you care about and not a asset to drain every last bit of value is the right way to go. Most players you wouldn’t do this with but considering it’s Justin that was the right move. Plus, I kind of like that it was to a AFC team rather than a NFC team. It makes it easier to root for him.
Poles said he was gonna build through the draft and spend sparingly in FA, proved he was doing just that when people got all mad at him.
Pole said he was going to do right by Fields and proved he was doing just that when people got all mad at him.
Maybe just trust what Poles says he’s gonna do or not do.
The big thing for this, it makes it more amicable to come to Chicago. As a it might not be our best interest return wise if we send you somewhere else. We will try to get you where you want to go. Which can go a long way with players.
It may also mollify any hard feelings in the locker room. Obvioiusly people (like Quanny) are kind of miffed at management -- but this could blunt the edge a little bit.
Fields appears to have just as big of a cult with players as he does with fans lol it always was likely similar offers or only marginally better.
No player really cares about what return a player gets back but they do care about how management goes about trades and treats their players. This could help for attracting players over the next couple of years and also for players taking team friendly deals.
I'd guess the returns were similar. I can't believe we walked from a 3rd or something just so Fields can be a backup in Pittsburgh rather than another team
Isnt that conditional not fields friendly? If fields is sitting there at 40% snap count and steelers are out of the playoff picture, didnt this fields centered deal shoot him in the foot. Just make it a 6th without the strings, or a conditional 5th if he doesn't play at all to push them to give a fair shake
The Steelers are ALWAYS in the playoff picture though. They never ever tank. Unless Russ somehow returns to his peak form I’d be shocked if fields didn’t play 8-9 games at least.
What you just said there is how the Bears screwed Fields over. What they traded him for incentivizes the Steelers to NOT give Fields a shot.
Let’s say Wilson is the starter at the start of the season and the Steelers are not in playoff contention. They’re not going to play Fields so they don’t lose draft capital.
It’s really unlikely that the trade yields a 4th unless Russell Wilson gets injured this season. I can’t imagine going from a guaranteed 4th to a likely-6th just to be nice to a guy that’s being traded away.
It is really insane and I don't know why this sub is happy about this hypothetical. Fields is no longer a Bear. The whole point of a GM is to win. A 4th round pick is much, much, much more valuable than a 6th.
I don't really believe this PR spin that the Bears dropped 2 rounds to be "nice" to a player that is no longer on the team though. It is all likely hearsay and not true.
I wonder if Fields saw that Dianna Russini tweet about the Raiders being interested and he insta nope texted Poles which is why they signed Gardner immediately after lol.
Why would the Raiders be interested in them though? If Getsy didn't care for him no way in hell he's gonna be telling the GM over there hey go get me Justin, makes zero sense.
They didn't get a FA QB, and pick after the Falcons, Vikings, and Broncos, all of whom might be threats to grab the 4th (or 5th and 6th) best QB in the draft. It would be horrible management to not engage at all about every QB who is even remotely capable of starting. We know Fields and Getsy is a fairly bad combo, but it could still be better than Getsy and Minshew, for example.
The Raiders weren't trading for Fields. They hired Getsy, because they didn't hild him accountable fir the Bears weak offense. They put the blame ( rightly so), on Fields. The Raiders, Vikings and Broncos, were three teams ( qb desperate), that would never have traded for Fields!!
The narrative that Fields is the worst player to ever touch a football really took off this week. I’m choosing to not engage in the ridiculous conversations going around on R/NFL about it.
I hope the kid does well in Pittsburgh and takes the job from Russ
Yeah for him not being that great people are really forgetting that the first 2 years here even tho he wasn't good he was still probably the best player on our offense. He's not great but people definitely are harsh on him.
It’s as if they didn’t even watch the games.
Year 1: zero training camp with first team. Thrown to wolves against Cleveland in first game. Playcalling designed for Dalton, not Fields.
Year 2: new coaching staff. Best WR is Mooney. Trash oline. Play calling is not designed well for a good portion of season. They were clearly tanking - poor conservative playcalling in the second halves of games.
Year 3: we all know what happened this year. His fumble troubles did not improve but he looked better with DJ to throw to. One of the best QB/WR duos in the league. Injured line most of the year. Shit playcalling. Getsy fired.
Sure, if he was Mahomes he may have been able to navigate all of the chaos, lack of protection, and lack of guys to throw to but to expect greatness immediately despite the turbulence, poor protection, and wrong playbook, but he didn’t.
He did okay and if we didn’t have pick 1.01 you’d expect we’d ride with him one more year now that the offense is ready to go.
I think a big problem was that even when the playcalling wasn’t shit, he was missing open wr on his 2nd or 3rd read. I feel like this was decently documented…
he really wasn't.
Only the stans taking twitter screenshots were saying this.
Actual pro's who reviewed his film were pointing out the other flaws on those plays.
And even the best QBs miss a handful of reads per game.
Josh Allen lost the Chiefs game on a missed read, but everyone makes excuses for him.
Idk, I’m just a fan watching videos from Kurt Warner and Chase Daniels. Looked like they said he was missing things that should have been read pre-snap
Because people wanting Caleb Williams (who, us picking is absolutely the right move) were morons who thought if the sub didn't shit in Fields relentlessly, for some reason Poles wouldn't trade him. Mean spirited at best, actively detrimental to the team at worst.
I said something like this in a similar post and I’m currently at 11 downvotes. Said he was exciting and had some big plays but it was time to move on and now comments are saying he can’t play football at a starter level and no business in the league and I’m being too emotional. People are just fucking losers man
Right? I don’t know how you can watch the games and just forget the last 3 years of ups and downs.
To me it’s like politics. They’ve been brainwashed and there’s no sense in trying to communicate your position to them.
blame the anti thruthers on this sub. both sides were annoying pro fields and anti fields. but the anti fields crowd were walking around like theri shit dont stank. if caroling would have played well enough not to get us the #1 pick. it would have been wise to to go with mhj. Im not sold on maye or daniels. but you cant past up on williams
Yeah, I was never committed to Fields but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was way more motivated to defend Fields throughout the season thanks to the insane hostility. This week it's been especially bad - we get it, he's not a good starting passer option compared to many other guys in the league. But I've been seeing comments saying he has less potential than Zach Wilson lol.
Right, there’s a difference between not great and terrible. Justin Fields needs to improve, we can all agree on that. But he is a starter on a lot of NFL rosters.
I think we’re seeing that a lot of NFL teams are not willing to do that. They might open up a playbook to add some designed runs for Russel, Mahommes, Allen, etc. But most teams are not going to completely redesign an offense for JF. The NFL is a passing league.
Love that some weirdo is downvoting these comments 😂 people need to get a life.
Lamar Jackson has won 2 MVPs in this league. It is a passing league but there are exceptions.
100%. That is the state of the Sub. I have no idea why JF is so polarizing. We LOVE the guy. We want the player and situation he was in to have been better. WTH is wrong with that? To your point, there are of course exceptions. But few out of 32. If I was Baltimore, I would have called Poles (and they may have). JF would be an amazing insurance policy for the Ravens.
Well, sources like being the first to know info. I assume that isn’t free, and I’m guessing that Poles and the FO want this known so they push it to guys like Rap because it’s different if he says it. At least that’s my guess as to why they’d push this
Yup. In exchange for scoops, Rap will act as an unofficial mouthpiece for management. If Poles says it in a press release he seems like a self aggrandizing jackass -- but if Rap says it it sounds newsworthy.
If you do a move like this it only pays of from a business point of view if as many people as possible know of it. So it definitely makes sense that we read it everywhere
It's tough to toe the line though. They were also wanting everyone to know they weren't even entertaining offers for Fields last week, and now we know that was a lie.
I enjoy Poles' transparency with the fans and media, but the FO doesn't need to trip over themselves to try and make sure everyone knows they didn't overplay their hand.
I don’t think it’s that as much as it is A) showing a commitment to their players (as counterintuitive as that sounds here) and B) keeping as copacetic on the locker room as possible.
I mean, that's fine. I really doubt any of those teams Fields didn't want to go to were offering above a 3rd rounder for him. I doubt that much draft capital was lost doing right by him.
There is a legit plus-side to how this worked out in that it reflects positively on Poles and the Bears. This is something NFL players are going to appreciate.
Bears have a reputation for treating their players well. The McCaskeys have emphasized this. It's worth leaving on good terms and putting the kid in a situation where he feels he can succeed. At the end of the day, these guys are all professionals who want each other to succeed. Obviously, Poles wants him to develop and did right by him and keep our reputation in tact. You don't want to burn bridges and throw him to the gutter. What if you end up joining the organization he's a part of in the future? Don't want that sort of relationship
If you want free agents to come to your team, especially when you're not known for winning, these are the things you can do to make it a desireable destination.
This makes me happy, it’s all I wanted is fields to not be disrespected on way out, he had some fun ass moments for us. All the best to him!
Caleb take the wheel!
Another thing... this is still a fair discussion because it really isn't a "Justin Fields" discussion anymore, but a "Ryan Poles" discussion. Its about how well he builds the roster, how well he builds the culture, how well he deals with other teams, and, mostly, what direction the team is going.
Reputation matters if you remember how the grief Emery took on for how he handled the Lovie Smith firing and the Brian Urlacher cut spilled over into the locker room. The vets on defense were pretty vocal about that affecting their efforts and results. And if you remember how hard it was for the Bulls to get FAs after how Krause was perceived in his handling of MJ and Phil Jackson, that also had a lingering impact on the quality of the team.
I think Poles may have been late to play his hand. I could forgive him for that as long as it doesn't become an ongoing trend. But it is fair to keep an eye on that. But I also think we have to take a step back and look at what the roster looks like and how much more it needs to be a playoff caliber team. I think it is pretty close tbh. We're at a point where coaching is a bigger question mark than the players. We still need an edge rusher, could use another long term WR, and have to figure out the center situation... but in the grand scheme of things, we have solved A LOT of problems over the past two off seasons.
Honestly finding it hilarious that these reports are coming out. So many comments in the trade announcement post were in denial with the team statement on prioritizing Fields preferred destinations like "Poles would only care about the bottom line" "it's a business", "that's all Fields is worth, Poles just tried to get more", etc
Either completely out of touch with competent business management, or self reporting their management style/business acumen.
It's the same way a manager won't write his employee up if they show up late to work one time. Financials are important in a business, but at the same time, morale, player retention, and even company image, are all important business factors that are very relevant with how management takes care of their "employees" and doesn't always become "what saves me the most money".
Glad Poles really did keep his end of the deal with making sure Fields went somewhere he wanted.
The other thing I read is that the Steelers really want Fields to be the long term answer at QB. That’s a whole different situation than a team that was looking for a backup. Wilson isn’t the long term solution and everyone knows it. That’s why Fields agents pushed for him to go there. He will have a legitimate shot at being the long term starter.
I wonder if Pittsburgh would pick up Justin's 5th year option. You have to decide BEFORE the start of the 4th year (I.E. before THIS coming season starts).
My guess would be no. But who knows.
I want the bears to be a place players want to play.
A place where you would consider resigning if you you were traded on a one year rental. That’s not going to happen much but reputations mattter.
If it was a marginal difference in return then reputation matters more than a pick that like will not play. Especially this year where analysts are saying there isn’t much talent after the 4th.
And that shows the kind of respect I think they have for him as a person. They could have said “Fuck off, you’re going” but they sent him where he requested. Is what it is. But I respect them doing as right by the guy as you can in this situation
This shows why sports media is honestly a joke. The first 24 hours everyone built this narrative that Fields was screwed by the Bears and teams wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. So many talking heads acted like they had no doubt this was the case. Then a day later this comes out.
Yea leave it to the Bears organization to ignore the O line that is dog shit for 5 years. Then pull off a bad trade but spread the narrative that they "did the right thing" the Bears couldn't do the right thing if they were getting paid to. Thus the terrible record and a new cross dressing qb that's going to get killed just like Fields.
Wait... there is a new twist (or spin) in this report we hadn't heard. It was reported before there were other teams and Poles didn't take the best offer "because he wanted to do right" by him. What wasn't reported (and this may be BS spin) is that Fields WANTED to go to Pittsburgh. If that is true, that's pretty significant. Especially if there was a material difference between the value of the trade offers. We'll probably never know what the details were and whether this was "we'll make him happy and take marginally less," "we'll make him happy and take significantly less," or "he really didn't care that much whether he was going to Philly, Pitt or Denver, but he once said he wouldn't mind the Steelers and they offered the best deal we're going to get so we're going to frame it in an altruistic way".
I'm guessing the best Bears could have got was a 5th rounder conditional 4th. MAYBE they were offered a 4th and that's how they got Pittsburg to make it a conditional 4th.
Regardless, there's 0 chance they were offered a 2nd or 3rd rounder and passed on it for what they got.
This sounds like damage control by the Bears. No way are they passing up something better than a 6th round pick because JF1 wanted to be Russell Wilson's backup.
Rap has been the only guy pretending Fields was not available a week ago/past couple of days. So yea probably.
It seems like this is just to make the Bears look better or maybe make the Fields supporters feel better as to why he was traded for so little.
People are acting like polls passed up on a second or third round pick or something. I’m sure it was mostly comparable. It would be in horrible form to give up some things significantly better.
Damn I read the comments a lot of you are/would be a shitty manager. There is a human component and this gives Bears a good reputation which in turns pays for itself.
Love seeing the Fields haters show their ass for the last 36 hrs only to *again* be proven *stupid* wrong, just like how they were raging for Bagent to start through their crayon stained teeth lol 🤡
Fields never earned the right to pick his destination. Other players and agents are going to forget about this immediately. Their primary motivation in free agency is money. They don't care about whether a team sent a first round bust to a better situation. Poles' only obligation is to this team. Maximizing return is the only way to build a winner.
>Maximizing return is the only way
This is the same mantra corporations use to rip people off and reduce them purely to numbers. These are people, not fucking robots
As I think alot of people here need to remember, you don't get to decide how our GM chooses to do his job or what strategies he takes to maintain relationships. His job is to build a champion roster that players are excited to go to and doing right by a guy who is beloved by teammates makes sense.
Showing respect to someone who’s been by all accounts a great professional and beloved locker room figure is just the right thing to do. Morale/attitude and locker room cohesion are important aspects of a successful team, acting like the human element doesn’t matter is naive.
Disagree. In all kinds of industries employees often pass a higher paying job in favor of a job that has a healthier/happier culture, assuming the pay there is still competitive. A lot more goes into it than pure dollars and cents.
Really don't get why people are struggling to believe this so much on here and rNFL. It's really not that insane of a concept plus the other offers were probably only marginally better.
It's a cheap way to get a very nice reputation with both players AND their agents. Could always be useful in future situations And the difference in draft pick was probably marginal, so Poles probably couldn't care less I don't mind it
People are acting like these reports are saying he was offered 1st round picks and chose a 6th instead. We're most likely talking about the difference between a 5th and a 6th lol.
[удалено]
Seriously lol. At the end of the day, we traded our backup QB with a bad contract situation coming up. Usually those guys are just released. And if he becomes the starter, it becomes a fourth. Pretty decent trade in my opinion.
I think it was at least a fourth which is why the bears at least got the playing time accelerator
I thought 2024 5th rounder, which is way more valuable, all else equal, than a 2025 6th. The conditional evens it up if he plays enough.
I think it takes a Russ injury to get Justin in.. do we know the details of the accelerator? Idk if they use him as a gadget guy if it means a 4th.
You’re 100% right. People feel like Fields was worth so much when the market clearly said he wasn’t I don’t care that he can run… he can’t pass!
It seems pretty clear that the contract situation and the Bears having 1OA was more of a detriment than the talent.
The talent was big too. Fields has not progressed on how he processes or reads the field. Williams will be a rookie, but any NFL team needing a qb makes the move the Bears are going to Everything thus far says it’s a talent, contract, and strategy upgrade to keep building a winning team
We’re Chicago sports fans. Yet we don’t remember the damage done by the perceived treatment of MJ had on the Bulls with free agents or the perceived treatment of Lovie Smith and Urlacher had on the Bears locker room.
I still somewhat doubt Poles would decline a significantly better offer for Fields sake but if there is an agent you do it for it’s Fields agent. Dude is very powerful
It's a classy gesture for sure. It's still odd to me it was okay to not get a 5th or 6th this year for Fields. Why couldn't he get the Steelers to bump their offer even a little bit. We've been arguing that giving up a 5th for Bates didn't really matter. Why shouldn't it matter the Steeler's give up a 5th? Whether or not it's a classy move, Poles did get a bit embarrassed by the Steelers again.
A fifth this year would've probably been worth it but the general opinion is this is a weak late-round draft class. So a 6th this year might be worse than a 6th next year.
Right. It's not like we all aren't hyper focused on this fact now. See how it works out.
Yeah let’s stop trading with the Steelers. First call always goes to Carolina
>couldn’t care less You actually used this correctly and I am so damn proud of you.
It's not my 1st language so now I'm actually not entirely certain if you are serious or if it's said in jest IF serious, is it a common mistake that I'm not aware of?
No no. You said it correctly. Most English speakers say “I could care less” which is incorrect. “Couldn’t care less” is the correct usage. The fact English is a second language makes it even more impressive
Because people are in “shit all over anything fiekds related mode”. Probably some combination of over exposure and being salty about their own qb poverty.
It goes beyond fields imo. We’ve really become a punching bag for fans, like the default response for anything we do is hate. Montez sweat trade, Jalen Carter pick trade, both objectively the right move for our org still got shit on for them when they happened.
[удалено]
He's been a solid GM IMO, but I also don't think he's free of criticism, and there are certain contingents on this sub who will bend over backwards to make every excuse in the book for him. Dude has had some major whiffs, but overall he's set the Bears up for some legit, sustained success if Caleb is the real deal. The Bears haven't had a GM who has done that since Finks.
The Claypool trade in particular will always be a blemish on his record (even though I supported it to start and he moved on as soon as it was apparent that that was a bad move). But overall he has set this franchise up for success so far. The supposed best prospect since Luck will have two WRs to throw to who each had over 1000 yards last year and two strong TEs for an OC that has historically wanted that. The defense has a strong, young secondary with a decent front 7 that could potentially be better after the draft (depending on what happens at 9). Everything could fall apart in the next year (see 2019), but the future is bright.
I have never heard the Luck comment
haven't you heard? Caleb is going to be a 10x super bowl winner and hall of famer. We only just started talking about him this year as a top prospect, but he's the best since Peyton!
Luck = Sid Luckman?
I meant Andrew Luck, but Luckman works
lmao fuckin wow
> there are certain contingents on this sub who will bend over backwards to make every excuse in the book for him. The contingent that hyper ventilates over every move he makes is larger and far more irrational. I really don't see people saying things like the Claypool trade was great, the best I see is people saying it was defendable as a gamble given the situation. However there's no shortage of people making extraordinarily dumb criticisms of Poles calling for his head at the drop of a hat over moves that ultimately prove to be great. People who absolutely refuse to acknowledge things like 3rd day draft picks rarely turn into starters or even reliable backups. Or refuse to acknowledge the value of exclusive negotiating rights, despite the fact they're why the really good players rarely hit free agency.
I 100% blame that shit stain Throw Rogan for all the ire we constantly receive. His I own you bullshit made us a national joke on a new level.
Man your fucking right. Saw a Vikings fan taunt us with that, like what? Not like you guys did good against him either
Throw Rogan is and will always be hilarious
Next year he'll be "former VP-candidate Throw Rogan"
can you fucking imagine if Bears fans think we finally escape him once he retires, only for him to one day become POTUS? Long shot sure, but look at some of the recent ones.
A lot of opposing fans don't watch the Bears and I don't blame them, largely because we've been pretty bad over the last decade. But it's become a popular narrative that we can't get anything right so other fans judge us with that in mind. It's annoying because I've talked to some friends and coworkers who read things online about the Bears but whenever I ask them if they've actually watched any games, they always say no. Most fans just don't have a clue and it's just something we gotta accept. I tune out other fanbases nowadays.
Oh for sure. My comment def came of as a little victim mentality but we’ve definitely earned a reputation of incompetence. I’m just waiting for the results to start pouring in on field and shift the narrative.
It's all good, I agree with you! I'm also tired of outsiders constantly shitting on the Bears. I know we've been bad but it's annoying how every move or draft pick we make is bad or wrong. I pretty much stopped following most NFL pages because everytime we were brought up, people just ragged on us. Really hoping we can turn it around ASAP.
Probably because we didn't get the majority right over the last 20 years.🤷🏻♂️ They can hate us for being good moving forward. I'm old enough to remember how much they hated the 85 Bears. Didn't bother me at all.
I’m ngl for some reason I’ve always assumed the ‘85 bears were universally loved lmfao. Ig cause they’re so well regarded now I just assumed the whole league at the time just appreciated how awesome they were
Not really. The Super Bowl shuffle rubbed people the wrong way and so did using The fridge as a running back. It sure was fun for us in Chicago though. Edit-- people did recognize how great that defense was but there was a lot of people that thought we'd blow it. Fun fact, I went yo the Super Bowl with my dad and we sat in a section of primarily bears fans. When Payton fumbled on the first possession and the patriots kicked a field goal-/ despite losing like 8 yards in their 3 plays-- all the Bears fans were sure we were losing. I was never more sure of a Chicago team winning in my life. I told everybody don't worry instead of winning 45 to nothing we're gonna win 45 to 3 and it came pretty close. lol but that's being a bears fan. Expect the worst.
That makes sense, and damn what an awesome memory.
Jimmy the Greek picked the Rams to beat the Bears in the NFC Championship game. Dickerson has just rushed for over 200 yards to beat Cowboys (I think it was the Cowboys...) and he thought Dickerson would have a field day. Then the first running play from scrimmage and Singletary stood Dickerson up in the hole, and yeah, that pick was wrong.
its this for sure, packer fans are losing their minds because they know there's a good chance that we could be really good the next few years but they are so used to punchingbag bears they are grasping at any straw to hold that reality together for themselves a little longer.
> both objectively the right move Was debatable at the time for both of them. Not debatable now of course.
Totally, tho I’d argue if you were familiar with our team there was a stronger case for both of those being the right move at the time as well. Seems like the default for any move we make is that it’s the wrong one though on nfl Reddit and some users on this sub.
Exactly this. Steelers is truly the best place with him. He will have a good mentor in Wilson and possibly take the top spot in the next couple years. I’m happy for him.
Bears fan living in Denver. Watched a fair amount of Broncos (I am also a Badgers fan and watched Russ a lot his Senior year). I like Russ. I believe Russ Wilson is a very good QB, but I think he is one of the most overrated in the league. When they replaced him with Geno Smith in Seattle, OMG, all of s sudden Geno is good!? I think Russ's success in Seattle had more to do with the team and coach. Russ clearly fell very short of the Peyton's grading, because he cannot process fast enough. He is a 2 read QB unless he scrambles (one of his strongest traits is extending plays). Peyton needs a quarterback that can process offenses quickly, and throw to the correct people, not just check down and scramble. If you can run the ball, Russ is an all pro, of not, his weaknesses come to light. He is a top middle third QB, and I think the Steelers are going to struggle next year, unless they can run the ball. I question how much an back QB can learn from him (except maybe how to manage your entourage)
If you want to make Chicago a destination where free agents want to join, the reputation of the organization goes a loooong way.
I think most people on rNFL are struggling to understand why multiple teams would want Fields.
Which also doesn't make sense but that's a whole other discussion.
Somehow Justin Fields has gone from a talented but flawed prospect to a dude who is on equal footing with Tim Tebow. Like he has his flaws, but he's not this overtly awful QB. I don't think he'll ever be elite, but I certainly think he has more promise than some of the other QBs who were moved ahead of him this offseason.
The market being stale is nearly entirely due to the 5th year option. If Justin was a free agent there would have been much more interest.
It's also the fact this draft is so QB rich. If this was last year there would be a lot more interest in Fields.
in my opinion i feel like his problems are not fixable. reaction time, ability to process defense, confidence, etc.
It's largely because a contingent of fans in this sub who make incredibly bad takes have been riding on being right on Fields (but for all the wrong reasons) over the last few months. Betting on QBs not being a top-5 or even top-10 QB is always an easy bet, since that's always the most likely scenario. Statistically haters win more often, so it's easy to become jaded.
At the end of the day, its the proliferation of Shanahan/McVay offenses which Justin has proven he has trouble with. So these coaches and thus their GMs (namely ATL, MIN, even LV) will prefer a less "gifted" QB that can reliably run their offense over a highlight reel guy that regularly just fails to execute a play. That tree wants their own Brock Purdy, not their own Trey Lance.
It's very clear NFL GMs don't think he's much better than a Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett, etc level QB. Maybe they are all wrong - but that's what the last week told us.
Did it though? Jones went somewhere hell never start, barring significant injury. The Eagles got Pickett after the Bears wouldn’t send Fields there. I’m not sure the leagues GMs really said anything the last couple weeks.
Yeah seems more like this is his best bet at having a starting job at some point.
If Fields could sign as a free agent on a cheap deal he'd have gone somewhere earlier. Teams weren't willing to give up draft capital for someone that's not going to take them anywhere anyway. I disagree that NFL GMs have told us they think those guys are better. Especially given that we turned down offers
I need to get off this sub because y'all are about to make me find another team to root for 😅. This has to be one the most toxic and shitty fandoms on the Internet.
On a human level, Poles knows that he took over and tore down the entire team around Fields instead of trying to build a team that could win on his rookie contract. Taking a marginally worse trade return for that guy on the way out is just the decent thing to do.
He took over a shit organization and needed to fix the shit culture too. Not every team with a shitty culture can stumble onto patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady.
It would’ve been dumb to build a team up around a player he didn’t draft & after that rookie struggled tremendously. The roster needed to be torn down & fields needed to prove he was worth investing in which he did with a 9 game stretch where he was running for 80-178 yards. We upgraded the roster but fields didn’t upgrade his play so I think it’s more about future relationships than any guilt he feels.
it's not dumb if you want to win, but Poles would rather preserve his career.
It’s amazing how Poles stands by his words, builds thru the draft, do right by players and people are still shocked when he does that.
Right? "I want to do right by Justin" is flipped into people screaming about Poles getting fleeced and he needs to be fired. Poles saying he'd build through the draft and not overpaying for free agents is flipped into his inability to sign players. Yet, the guy's put the Bears in the best position, going forward, of any GM I can remember. I try and remind myself how toxic this sub can be. Loom at a Bears IG post (before the trade) and all.of the comments are people begging them to keep Justin. 60k people chanted "we want Justin." His teammates advocate for him and its "what else would they say?" This place is just a weird negative echo chamber. I'm excited for him. He went to one of the most stable franchises in the league. Great coach. An OC who might know how to use them. He can learn from Russ. I hope he reaches his potential and I'll be pulling for him.
He’s traded away more draft picks for players with 2 or fewer years of contract left more than anyone else in the league. He is not building through the draft. He is building with draft picks, yes, but he is not building through the draft.
Almost our entire Secondary was built thru the draft; Brisker, Gordon, Stevenson all starters gotten thru the draft. Our O-line tackles are both thru the draft. OP is right that Poles is building thru the draft, Our QB was and will be thru the draft. There are more starters on the roster from the draft than trades.
how many of those are actual difference makers vs warm bodies?
Sweat and Claypool, who else did he trade picks for? I gotta be missing at least a few right?
Allen, Bates, Harry, Feeney, another 7 in the Claypool to Dolphins deal
Yea, gonna have to call bullshit on that one. We’ve made two trades for players, Sweat and Claypool. Meanwhile have our entire secondary, both starting tackles and several other pieces.
Keenan Allen, Dan Feeney, Ryan Bates, NKeal Harry. There’s nothing to call bullshit on it’s just a fact.
So 6 players which is still which is more than I remembered but guess what it also is, LESS THAN STARTERS DRAFTED. so it is bullshit to say Poles isn’t building thru the draft.
Oh, I meant my first statement - in that he has done more draft pick for rental trades than anyone else in the league. I think if he was building through the draft he wouldn’t do that. You don’t see anyone else doing that as much as Poles
I'm not sure why you are catching hate. His M.O. has been trading drat picks for players to this point. It isn't necessarily a negative, but that is definitely his thing.
Yup. Most likely they showed fields all the options and let him pick.
I think once Poles realized he wasn't getting a 2nd or 3rd, he might have gotten less to get him to a better spot. He wasn't passing up a day 2 pick to be a bro IMO
Exactly. Seem pretty obvious that's what happened to me.
It's because the spicier/more entertaining narrative is that bears fans are dumb and poles once again got fleeced. Either way, neither side actually knows shit so the conversation is pointless
Eh - there's nothing wrong with being a little skeptical at these kinds of stories that are clearly spin (whether true or not). It doesn't really matter anyways as I don't think we were ever getting more than a 4th at best.
Skeptical sure but that's not what I've seen. People are flat out denying that the report is even possible.
If true I bet the Vikings were in that discussion, considering the timing of their trade with the Texans.
I think this was a great move by Poles. While I do think he left money/compensation on the table, he made sure that his man went where he would be comfortable. While I understand that this is a business, if Poles treats his men as if they are actually people and shows he cares about their happiness too, then that is a cultural win for the Bears. On Fields' side, I can see how he would be excited about this opportunity. Even if he has to be the #2 guy in Pittsburgh for a bit, he will be able to actually spend some time learning and developing behind a very comparable QB in Russell Wilson. He will have all the development help in Pittsburgh that he lacked in Chicago, and there isn't really any way this goes badly for him. If he can prove he is working towards improvement and can show he is ready, maybe the Steelers have found their future QB after Wilson retires.
Because Poles already used Rapoport as the mouthpiece for an obvious PR cover that is/was genuinely a lie less than a week ago. This makes Poles look like he didn’t bungle the trade value, makes him look like a good guy to players, and makes it seem like Justin was more in demand than he was. Little too perfect/convenient in my estimation. It’s a great PR lie, I’m happy it’s taken hold, but I won’t be surprised if something leaks that bares it for what a lot of us think it is.
I'd rather send him to the AFC as well, just in case he does make a leap.
It’s only acceptable if the other offers were marginally better- like a 2022 6th.
Not sure I’d want a 6th in a draft that ended in 2022.
Whoops. Meant 24
We're Bears fans. We are fucking idiots.
Likely 4th or 5th round with no chance for Justin to start. Justin wanted a chance to start.
Treating Fields like a person you care about and not a asset to drain every last bit of value is the right way to go. Most players you wouldn’t do this with but considering it’s Justin that was the right move. Plus, I kind of like that it was to a AFC team rather than a NFC team. It makes it easier to root for him.
Poles said he was gonna build through the draft and spend sparingly in FA, proved he was doing just that when people got all mad at him. Pole said he was going to do right by Fields and proved he was doing just that when people got all mad at him. Maybe just trust what Poles says he’s gonna do or not do.
The big thing for this, it makes it more amicable to come to Chicago. As a it might not be our best interest return wise if we send you somewhere else. We will try to get you where you want to go. Which can go a long way with players.
It may also mollify any hard feelings in the locker room. Obvioiusly people (like Quanny) are kind of miffed at management -- but this could blunt the edge a little bit.
Brisker is such a loud mouth, I love it
Reasonable and sensible take, unlike others in this thread doing their best Gordon Gekko impression
Fields appears to have just as big of a cult with players as he does with fans lol it always was likely similar offers or only marginally better. No player really cares about what return a player gets back but they do care about how management goes about trades and treats their players. This could help for attracting players over the next couple of years and also for players taking team friendly deals.
I'd guess the returns were similar. I can't believe we walked from a 3rd or something just so Fields can be a backup in Pittsburgh rather than another team
I assume the conditional 4th was thrown in because a sole 4th rounder had been offered, which imo is a reasonable return for Fields
That's my take away as well.
Isnt that conditional not fields friendly? If fields is sitting there at 40% snap count and steelers are out of the playoff picture, didnt this fields centered deal shoot him in the foot. Just make it a 6th without the strings, or a conditional 5th if he doesn't play at all to push them to give a fair shake
The Steelers are ALWAYS in the playoff picture though. They never ever tank. Unless Russ somehow returns to his peak form I’d be shocked if fields didn’t play 8-9 games at least.
What you just said there is how the Bears screwed Fields over. What they traded him for incentivizes the Steelers to NOT give Fields a shot. Let’s say Wilson is the starter at the start of the season and the Steelers are not in playoff contention. They’re not going to play Fields so they don’t lose draft capital.
It’s really unlikely that the trade yields a 4th unless Russell Wilson gets injured this season. I can’t imagine going from a guaranteed 4th to a likely-6th just to be nice to a guy that’s being traded away.
It is really insane and I don't know why this sub is happy about this hypothetical. Fields is no longer a Bear. The whole point of a GM is to win. A 4th round pick is much, much, much more valuable than a 6th. I don't really believe this PR spin that the Bears dropped 2 rounds to be "nice" to a player that is no longer on the team though. It is all likely hearsay and not true.
I wonder if Fields saw that Dianna Russini tweet about the Raiders being interested and he insta nope texted Poles which is why they signed Gardner immediately after lol.
Why would the Raiders be interested in them though? If Getsy didn't care for him no way in hell he's gonna be telling the GM over there hey go get me Justin, makes zero sense.
They didn't get a FA QB, and pick after the Falcons, Vikings, and Broncos, all of whom might be threats to grab the 4th (or 5th and 6th) best QB in the draft. It would be horrible management to not engage at all about every QB who is even remotely capable of starting. We know Fields and Getsy is a fairly bad combo, but it could still be better than Getsy and Minshew, for example.
I mean I get why you could see them not wanting to work together, but we don't know for sure so idk
The Raiders weren't trading for Fields. They hired Getsy, because they didn't hild him accountable fir the Bears weak offense. They put the blame ( rightly so), on Fields. The Raiders, Vikings and Broncos, were three teams ( qb desperate), that would never have traded for Fields!!
The narrative that Fields is the worst player to ever touch a football really took off this week. I’m choosing to not engage in the ridiculous conversations going around on R/NFL about it. I hope the kid does well in Pittsburgh and takes the job from Russ
Yeah for him not being that great people are really forgetting that the first 2 years here even tho he wasn't good he was still probably the best player on our offense. He's not great but people definitely are harsh on him.
It’s as if they didn’t even watch the games. Year 1: zero training camp with first team. Thrown to wolves against Cleveland in first game. Playcalling designed for Dalton, not Fields. Year 2: new coaching staff. Best WR is Mooney. Trash oline. Play calling is not designed well for a good portion of season. They were clearly tanking - poor conservative playcalling in the second halves of games. Year 3: we all know what happened this year. His fumble troubles did not improve but he looked better with DJ to throw to. One of the best QB/WR duos in the league. Injured line most of the year. Shit playcalling. Getsy fired. Sure, if he was Mahomes he may have been able to navigate all of the chaos, lack of protection, and lack of guys to throw to but to expect greatness immediately despite the turbulence, poor protection, and wrong playbook, but he didn’t. He did okay and if we didn’t have pick 1.01 you’d expect we’d ride with him one more year now that the offense is ready to go.
I think a big problem was that even when the playcalling wasn’t shit, he was missing open wr on his 2nd or 3rd read. I feel like this was decently documented…
he really wasn't. Only the stans taking twitter screenshots were saying this. Actual pro's who reviewed his film were pointing out the other flaws on those plays. And even the best QBs miss a handful of reads per game. Josh Allen lost the Chiefs game on a missed read, but everyone makes excuses for him.
Idk, I’m just a fan watching videos from Kurt Warner and Chase Daniels. Looked like they said he was missing things that should have been read pre-snap
A lot of that narrative came from this fanbase. I can at least understand why r/nfl would push the narrative, but this sub? Its bizarre.
Stupid people think in binary, he wasn't the best so he must be the worst
Fields wasn't the worst starting qb in the league. One of the worst, that is undeniable!!
Because people wanting Caleb Williams (who, us picking is absolutely the right move) were morons who thought if the sub didn't shit in Fields relentlessly, for some reason Poles wouldn't trade him. Mean spirited at best, actively detrimental to the team at worst.
I said something like this in a similar post and I’m currently at 11 downvotes. Said he was exciting and had some big plays but it was time to move on and now comments are saying he can’t play football at a starter level and no business in the league and I’m being too emotional. People are just fucking losers man
Right? I don’t know how you can watch the games and just forget the last 3 years of ups and downs. To me it’s like politics. They’ve been brainwashed and there’s no sense in trying to communicate your position to them.
blame the anti thruthers on this sub. both sides were annoying pro fields and anti fields. but the anti fields crowd were walking around like theri shit dont stank. if caroling would have played well enough not to get us the #1 pick. it would have been wise to to go with mhj. Im not sold on maye or daniels. but you cant past up on williams
Yeah, I was never committed to Fields but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was way more motivated to defend Fields throughout the season thanks to the insane hostility. This week it's been especially bad - we get it, he's not a good starting passer option compared to many other guys in the league. But I've been seeing comments saying he has less potential than Zach Wilson lol.
dude are saying Ridder is better than him. Meanwhile Ridder is worse in literally every stat category.
Yeah that’s insane, ridder was atrocious
Right, there’s a difference between not great and terrible. Justin Fields needs to improve, we can all agree on that. But he is a starter on a lot of NFL rosters.
Give him protection and a playbook designed for a mobile QB. I’d like to see what happens with him placed in the right system.
I think we’re seeing that a lot of NFL teams are not willing to do that. They might open up a playbook to add some designed runs for Russel, Mahommes, Allen, etc. But most teams are not going to completely redesign an offense for JF. The NFL is a passing league.
Love that some weirdo is downvoting these comments 😂 people need to get a life. Lamar Jackson has won 2 MVPs in this league. It is a passing league but there are exceptions.
100%. That is the state of the Sub. I have no idea why JF is so polarizing. We LOVE the guy. We want the player and situation he was in to have been better. WTH is wrong with that? To your point, there are of course exceptions. But few out of 32. If I was Baltimore, I would have called Poles (and they may have). JF would be an amazing insurance policy for the Ravens.
I choose to believe this is true, but I also believe that Bears sources are trying way too hard to make sure everyone knows.
Well, sources like being the first to know info. I assume that isn’t free, and I’m guessing that Poles and the FO want this known so they push it to guys like Rap because it’s different if he says it. At least that’s my guess as to why they’d push this
Yup. In exchange for scoops, Rap will act as an unofficial mouthpiece for management. If Poles says it in a press release he seems like a self aggrandizing jackass -- but if Rap says it it sounds newsworthy.
If you do a move like this it only pays of from a business point of view if as many people as possible know of it. So it definitely makes sense that we read it everywhere
Yeah, taking care of your players is something you’d actually want to tout publicly
Why wouldn’t they? That’s the sort of thing to broadcast.
It's tough to toe the line though. They were also wanting everyone to know they weren't even entertaining offers for Fields last week, and now we know that was a lie. I enjoy Poles' transparency with the fans and media, but the FO doesn't need to trip over themselves to try and make sure everyone knows they didn't overplay their hand.
I don’t think it’s that as much as it is A) showing a commitment to their players (as counterintuitive as that sounds here) and B) keeping as copacetic on the locker room as possible.
Yup. It's cheap and easy PR. Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't matter either way.
if this is true i think it’s a class act move by poles. if a team was really offering a third or above i’m sure it would be different.
I mean, that's fine. I really doubt any of those teams Fields didn't want to go to were offering above a 3rd rounder for him. I doubt that much draft capital was lost doing right by him.
There is a legit plus-side to how this worked out in that it reflects positively on Poles and the Bears. This is something NFL players are going to appreciate.
Bears have a reputation for treating their players well. The McCaskeys have emphasized this. It's worth leaving on good terms and putting the kid in a situation where he feels he can succeed. At the end of the day, these guys are all professionals who want each other to succeed. Obviously, Poles wants him to develop and did right by him and keep our reputation in tact. You don't want to burn bridges and throw him to the gutter. What if you end up joining the organization he's a part of in the future? Don't want that sort of relationship
If you want free agents to come to your team, especially when you're not known for winning, these are the things you can do to make it a desireable destination.
This makes me happy, it’s all I wanted is fields to not be disrespected on way out, he had some fun ass moments for us. All the best to him! Caleb take the wheel!
I’ll be rooting for him
He gets to hang out with Russ and Mike Tomlin which sounds pretty badass
Thought they could’ve held onto him until season started, maybe someone gets hurt and they trade him for a third. Dunno
Another thing... this is still a fair discussion because it really isn't a "Justin Fields" discussion anymore, but a "Ryan Poles" discussion. Its about how well he builds the roster, how well he builds the culture, how well he deals with other teams, and, mostly, what direction the team is going. Reputation matters if you remember how the grief Emery took on for how he handled the Lovie Smith firing and the Brian Urlacher cut spilled over into the locker room. The vets on defense were pretty vocal about that affecting their efforts and results. And if you remember how hard it was for the Bulls to get FAs after how Krause was perceived in his handling of MJ and Phil Jackson, that also had a lingering impact on the quality of the team. I think Poles may have been late to play his hand. I could forgive him for that as long as it doesn't become an ongoing trend. But it is fair to keep an eye on that. But I also think we have to take a step back and look at what the roster looks like and how much more it needs to be a playoff caliber team. I think it is pretty close tbh. We're at a point where coaching is a bigger question mark than the players. We still need an edge rusher, could use another long term WR, and have to figure out the center situation... but in the grand scheme of things, we have solved A LOT of problems over the past two off seasons.
Honestly finding it hilarious that these reports are coming out. So many comments in the trade announcement post were in denial with the team statement on prioritizing Fields preferred destinations like "Poles would only care about the bottom line" "it's a business", "that's all Fields is worth, Poles just tried to get more", etc Either completely out of touch with competent business management, or self reporting their management style/business acumen. It's the same way a manager won't write his employee up if they show up late to work one time. Financials are important in a business, but at the same time, morale, player retention, and even company image, are all important business factors that are very relevant with how management takes care of their "employees" and doesn't always become "what saves me the most money". Glad Poles really did keep his end of the deal with making sure Fields went somewhere he wanted.
The other thing I read is that the Steelers really want Fields to be the long term answer at QB. That’s a whole different situation than a team that was looking for a backup. Wilson isn’t the long term solution and everyone knows it. That’s why Fields agents pushed for him to go there. He will have a legitimate shot at being the long term starter.
I wonder if Pittsburgh would pick up Justin's 5th year option. You have to decide BEFORE the start of the 4th year (I.E. before THIS coming season starts). My guess would be no. But who knows.
Kudos to Poles for keeping his word.
I want the bears to be a place players want to play. A place where you would consider resigning if you you were traded on a one year rental. That’s not going to happen much but reputations mattter. If it was a marginal difference in return then reputation matters more than a pick that like will not play. Especially this year where analysts are saying there isn’t much talent after the 4th.
Poles knows what he's doing. The locker room loved Justin. It was hard to see him go for everyone there.
I’ll bet the raiders were on that list lmao
And that shows the kind of respect I think they have for him as a person. They could have said “Fuck off, you’re going” but they sent him where he requested. Is what it is. But I respect them doing as right by the guy as you can in this situation
Yeah I mentioned this yesterday and some of y'all got so upset
He went to osu becuase of Dwayne Haskins as they shared the same qb coach and he knew Simba was going to the league now he gonna finish it
Never underestimate the power of good karma
This shows why sports media is honestly a joke. The first 24 hours everyone built this narrative that Fields was screwed by the Bears and teams wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. So many talking heads acted like they had no doubt this was the case. Then a day later this comes out.
Yea leave it to the Bears organization to ignore the O line that is dog shit for 5 years. Then pull off a bad trade but spread the narrative that they "did the right thing" the Bears couldn't do the right thing if they were getting paid to. Thus the terrible record and a new cross dressing qb that's going to get killed just like Fields.
Wait... there is a new twist (or spin) in this report we hadn't heard. It was reported before there were other teams and Poles didn't take the best offer "because he wanted to do right" by him. What wasn't reported (and this may be BS spin) is that Fields WANTED to go to Pittsburgh. If that is true, that's pretty significant. Especially if there was a material difference between the value of the trade offers. We'll probably never know what the details were and whether this was "we'll make him happy and take marginally less," "we'll make him happy and take significantly less," or "he really didn't care that much whether he was going to Philly, Pitt or Denver, but he once said he wouldn't mind the Steelers and they offered the best deal we're going to get so we're going to frame it in an altruistic way".
If this is true, Poles should be fired immediately. If this is not true, Poles should be fired immediately.
Stop trading with the Steelers. How many times do the Steelers have to take Poles' lunch before he figures it out?
At least we didn't do him dirty like I thought we were going to. Gives him a chance to start, but I bet there were better offers on the table
Steelers must have something on poles after Claypool trade then this 🤷♂️
AFCN is no joke though. Hopefully he doesn’t get slaughtered over there.
I'm guessing the best Bears could have got was a 5th rounder conditional 4th. MAYBE they were offered a 4th and that's how they got Pittsburg to make it a conditional 4th. Regardless, there's 0 chance they were offered a 2nd or 3rd rounder and passed on it for what they got.
This sounds like damage control by the Bears. No way are they passing up something better than a 6th round pick because JF1 wanted to be Russell Wilson's backup.
Rap has been the only guy pretending Fields was not available a week ago/past couple of days. So yea probably. It seems like this is just to make the Bears look better or maybe make the Fields supporters feel better as to why he was traded for so little.
People are acting like polls passed up on a second or third round pick or something. I’m sure it was mostly comparable. It would be in horrible form to give up some things significantly better.
Poles is a boss. Veach taught him well!
I don't get why when a player gets traded or leaves via free agency, the default for the fan base is to spew hatred like a jealous ex.
That pretty cool for the Bears to do.
Damn I read the comments a lot of you are/would be a shitty manager. There is a human component and this gives Bears a good reputation which in turns pays for itself.
Love seeing the Fields haters show their ass for the last 36 hrs only to *again* be proven *stupid* wrong, just like how they were raging for Bagent to start through their crayon stained teeth lol 🤡
They also haven't shopped Fields, and are waiting until Williams medical before they trade him. Right Rap?
If you don’t list your house for sale does that mean people can’t inquire about buying it?
Fields never earned the right to pick his destination. Other players and agents are going to forget about this immediately. Their primary motivation in free agency is money. They don't care about whether a team sent a first round bust to a better situation. Poles' only obligation is to this team. Maximizing return is the only way to build a winner.
>Maximizing return is the only way This is the same mantra corporations use to rip people off and reduce them purely to numbers. These are people, not fucking robots
As I think alot of people here need to remember, you don't get to decide how our GM chooses to do his job or what strategies he takes to maintain relationships. His job is to build a champion roster that players are excited to go to and doing right by a guy who is beloved by teammates makes sense.
Whatever you say Ebenezer Scrooge
Showing respect to someone who’s been by all accounts a great professional and beloved locker room figure is just the right thing to do. Morale/attitude and locker room cohesion are important aspects of a successful team, acting like the human element doesn’t matter is naive.
Disagree. In all kinds of industries employees often pass a higher paying job in favor of a job that has a healthier/happier culture, assuming the pay there is still competitive. A lot more goes into it than pure dollars and cents.