The Chicago Bears have a quarterback debate going on in town. A lot of people are having this conversation both locally and nationally, which puts them in the spotlight a little bit. The options are keeping Justin Fields for a fourth season or using the No. 1 overall pick on USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
Fields hasn’t shown the progression that Chicago has hoped for but he has shown flashes of brilliance. In the meantime, Williams had an all-time great college career that included a Heisman Trophy season. The latter has an unknown to him but could he be worse than what we’ve seen from Fields?
We’ve heard from plenty of NFL greats over the last few months and now we have Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner chiming in. He knows what it takes to win while playing that position. The man has two MVPs, a Super Bowl championship, and a Super Bowl MVP.
Warner spoke to NBC Sports Chicago about the Bears’ quarterback dilemma, and he has the opinion that the Bears should be moving on from Fields.
“They are weighing a tough decision,” Warner said. “What I’ll say is when you get to the point, we’re at with quarterbacks in this league and what you have to pay them and what that means for your organization, you better know he’s the guy. That, to me, really is where teams get in trouble. Like the Giants go give Daniel Jones $40 million to Daniel Jones. He hasn’t shown us he’s that guy. We can hope he’s that guy. We’ve seen glimpses maybe, but he hasn’t shown us he’s that guy. So, the Giants are behind the eight-ball because he’s still not that guy. Maybe he will be in three years, but he’s not right now. So, they pay him.
“I think the thing with Justin for me is, he hasn’t shown me he’s that guy. Doesn’t mean he’s not talented. Doesn’t mean he can’t be great and a franchise quarterback. But when you have three years and you don’t take out the doubt to go, ‘He’s our guy!’ I think you have to move on. You can’t just go pay that guy $50 million in hopes that those glimpses you saw turn into greatness. It may be unfortunate because some of these guys play too early, they are not ready yet, their next step or their next contract is going to be determined by it. But that’s all we can go on. If you have played for three years, you have to prove to me you’re that guy.”
Warner doesn’t necessarily think it is all Fields’ fault but he knows the opportunity the Bears have with the number one pick in their hands for the second year in a row. You don’t get chances like this too often.
“We have to put in the elements of, they’ve got the No. 1 pick,” Warner said. “It’s not like they got the 23rd pick and they are just going to go, ‘Oh, let’s just go get another quarterback.’ You got the pick of the litter if you believe Caleb Williams might be that guy. I think that’s the unfortunate thing for Justin, but again, he’s had three years. Not perfect situations. There’s a lot of elements involved. But I just haven’t seen the consistency of his play to go, ‘I think he can get there.’ Being unsure to me leads to you got to go get the other No. 1 pick and move forward.”
Warner makes a good point about it not being a random selection in the middle of the first round. Moving on from Fields for the number one overall pick is a lot different than moving on from him in favor of a random mid-round hopeful.
It is hard to disagree with Warner here. Fields has shown that he can make plays with his legs but his evolution in the passing game just isn’t good enough. That might be enough to move on from him.
Warner is very involved with today’s NFL as an analyst. He knows what he is talking about. This isn’t some random former player just throwing an opinion out there. If Poles was smart, he would consider listening to someone like Warner, who has a resume worth respecting.