Did a Bears team video released Saturday indicate the team plans to keep Justin Fields and trade the first pick? Probably not but Bears fans decided to go totally insane anyway.
It usually takes even less these days, with the future of quarterback Justin Fields if not the franchise sitting on a edge.
The team on Saturday sent a video of Fields highlights out on “X,” or Twitter. It’s been done plenty of times before, but at this point, it’s easy to ask, “why would they do that now, at a time like this.”
The video set off Fields fans on social media, as they’re looking for some sign of any type to indicate whether Fields will return as quarterback or the team will draft Caleb Williams.
It did seem strange timing. The Bears also had used Fields as the main character in a photo display to interest fans in trips to their coming game in London next season.
Whether any of this actually means anything won’t be known until the Bears either trade Fields or draft Williams.
It’s highly unlikely they would be trying to tip anything at this point, with the conference championships and Super Bowl still to be played, the Senior Bowl coming next week and the combine at the end of February, before things get really serious with March 13 free agency.
Curiously, the release came on a day when former Bears great Brian Urlacher said on CBS Sports’ Zach Gelb Show that the Bears should draft Williams.
Urlacher probably shot down his own statement by saying “I don’t watch a lot of their games,” but also said, “I think they ought to take Caeb. I don’t think there’s any way around it this year.
“If you don’t take him, he turns out to be great, but having said that Justin Fields played good at the end of the season last year, as well. It’s tough. Their defense really played good the second half of the season.”
A general media undercurrent lately has been the Bears must take Williams but there are still plenty of supporters for keeping Fields and trading down to build a “super team.”
The 49ers are viewed by many as a team that built up without a quarterback and now is a 7 1/2-point favorite in Sunday’s NFC Championship game using a seventh-round Mr. Irrelevant passer, Brock Purdy. They more or less QB-proofed their team by filling it with talent. Purdy’s efficiency has been a huge part of it, even if he doesn’t seem to get a lot of credit.
Bears fans have to realize it only benefits GM Ryan Poles if teams don’t know what he’s doing at this point. Offers for either Fields or for the first pick can become greatly inflated if uncertainty prevails.
It would be very easy for the team to put out a video when it seems like sentiment is building on one particular course of action, in order to keep keep uncertainty as the status quo.
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