Even though the Chicago Bears are not in attendance during the festivities surrounding Super Bowl LVIII, the team was still mentioned quite a bit on Monday.
While the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers began the Super Bowl week in Las Vegas at the media availability, the future of the Bears organization was brought up multiple times.
It seems many voices around the league are curious to see what the Bears will end up doing this off-season with major decisions set to be made.
The elephant in the room and the decision that got the most buzz during the opening night at Allegiant Stadium was the future of quarterback Justin Fields in Chicago.
Armed with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the smoke is beginning to flow in that the Bears could be strongly interested in drafting USC quarterback Caleb Williams and moving on from Fields heading into the 2024 season.
With Fields’ future uncertain over the next few weeks, a familiar voice offered some words of encouragement for the young quarterback during the Super Bowl media availability. Former Bears head coach and current Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was asked the upcoming decision happening with his former team and provided some interesting insights.
“I think [Fields has] done a really really good job at the quarterback position and really grown,” Nagy said. “It’s always the million dollar question every year for a lot of different teams is trying to decide if you want to stick with your guy or move on. But, I’m proud of Justin and I think the guys did a great job with him.”
Fields was drafted by the Bears with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft heading into Nagy’s fourth and final year with the Bears. During Nagy’s first three years, his quarterback was mainly Mitch Trubisky who left the Bears in free agency following the 2020 season. Nagy and Fields seemed like they could long-term pairing in Chicago until Nagy was let go after finishing the season with a 6-11 record.
“We went through some tough times as we all know,” Nagy added. “I look back and say ‘how could I have been better to be able to help him and put him in better situations’ and you want to learn and grow from those experiences.”
Fields spent the next two seasons under head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. The outcome hasn’t changed much for the Bears over those two seasons leading the front office to question whether Fields should return as the starter again next season. However, Nagy believes Fields can do “a look of good things” with whichever team he plays for in 2024.
“He’s going to have success in what he does just because he cares too much, he’s very passionate, and he’s a good kid,” Nagy said. “When you have all that and you put it all together, good things usually happen. I’m rooting for him. I think he’s a helluva kid, he’s a helluva quarterback and the future is really bright for him.”
The sentiment was also shared by Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel who spent the 2022 season with the Bears and shared the locker room with Fields everyday.
“My personal opinion, you gotta stick with J. Fields,” Pennel said. “He’s had that coaching staff for a couple of years and my personal opinion, Chicago moves on from QBs too fast. If you look around other franchises like the Baltimore Ravens, the reason they have success is because they built around Lamar [Jackson] and what he does well. If Chicago takes that approach, I really see it working.”
Even a member of the Chiefs opponent shared similar feelings. San Francisco 49ers tight end and childhood Bears fan George Kittle voiced his support for Fields as well on Monday during the opening night.
“I think what the Bears should do is, personally, I think they should trade back as many picks as they can and build around a guy they’ve been trying to build around,” Kittle said. “Just help him out as much as you possibly can. Build him up as big as you can and trust the kid.”
There’s still a long way to ago until the Bears front office officially makes the decision regarding Fields’ future in Chicago but it has to at least be somewhat notable seeing prominent voices show their support for him on the biggest stage in football.
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