Breaking News: Bears skip on Justin Fields in 2023; CJ Stroud advises them on the player.
Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate C.J. Stroud is among the NFL players weighing in on the Chicago Bears‘ selection between Justin Fields and the top pick.
The Houston Texans quarterback was questioned by a reporter for USA Today Sports if the Bears should hang onto quarterback Brandon Fields. On Tuesday, February 20, the JPAFootball X account shared a TikTok video of Stroud’s response.
In answer, Stroud remarked, “If they’re smart, they should.” “But you know,” I said.
The reporter responded, “It’s the Bears,” teasingly pointing out the team’s lengthy track record of quarterback failures.
“You said it, not me,” Stroud responded, chuckling.
The Bears’ 2023 decision to pass on C.J. Stroud as a draft pick has increased pressure on Caleb Williams’ selection.
Chicago also owned the first pick in the 2023 draft, but they made the decision to send it to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for wide receiver DJ Moore, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.
With Moore having the best season of his career with Fields at his side and Carolina’s 2024 pick rising to the top choice, that move appears to be justified now. But the Bears had the opportunity to take Stroud with their first pick in the previous season; he finished the season as both the Rookie of the Year and a strong candidate for MVP.
In his first season starting at center, he led the Texans to the postseason and led them to victory over the highly regarded Cleveland Browns defense on Wildcard Weekend. However, they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round.
Ironically, general manager Ryan Poles is under a lot of pressure to select USC quarterback
with the first pick in April, in part due to Chicago’s 2023 decision to pass on Stroud. Since Mahomes’ NFL debut seven years ago, Williams has brought more player comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes than any other prospect.
The current Chicago administration will probably fail if Williams proves to be even a shadow of Mahomes and the Bears pass on him, especially considering that they passed on Stroud last year in favor of Fields.
Bears Don’t Seem to Be Taking C.J. Stroud’s Advice Regarding Justin Fields
It is a very simple but difficult decision for Chicago to select Fields over Williams, the top pick, to draft a quarterback.
Fields’ first three years have been mediocre at best. He is set to enter the final season of his original rookie deal and has not matured into the kind of NFL passer that the franchise may have hoped for. By 2025, Fields’ fifth-year team option will cost a lot of money. After that, the Bears will have to give him the kind of salary that a true league starter would receive, which may come to a maximum of $45 or $50 million annually.
Conversely, Williams is generally seen as a prospect that the league can’t afford to miss. He will play for the next four seasons on a rookie contract that is cost-controlled, and Chicago will keep a first-round selection pick and a fifth-year team option on him.
Drafting Williams is a victory because it keeps the QB position in Chicago for practically the whole duration of this decade, even if he is only as effective as Fields during his first three years in the league. Williams should have the same opportunity to thrive in the NFL as any other rookie signal-caller because the front office will be able to keep expanding the roster on both sides of the ball.
Unfortunately for Fields, things in Chicago just didn’t work out that way for him. But Fields will get a new start with a new team coming into his age-25 season, and the Bears should be able to acquire a second-round pick in exchange for him.
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