Ex-NFL QB calls Bears’ Justin Fields ‘their future’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Bears have bigger fish to fry than worrying about trading their starting quarterback.
“Justin Fields, first of all, he’s their starting quarterback,” Ex-NFL slinger Dan Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up! “He’s their future. We are not drafting Bryce Young.”
Resetting the quarterback contract by two years and taking a risk on a college prospect over a Fields is malarkey to Orlovsky.
He ascertains the Bears need to focus on the holes riddling their roster.
“Their roster stinks,” Orlovsky said. “They need more players, so they need to trade back, but they need a team to fall in love with a quarterback that is different than who Houston, who has the second pick, falls in love with and gives them a ton of picks.”‘
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Indeed, as Orlovsky first pointed out, the Bears’ roster “stinks.”
Last season, the Bears fielded one of the worst NFL rosters. One that can’t and won’t be fixed for the long run in one clean swift of a singular offseason. That’s the reason for the urgency.
For starters, the Bears held one of the worst defensive line units in the league. The unit recorded the league’s fewest sacks and contributed to the allowance of the second-most rushing yards per game against their opponent.
The offensive line, while finishing 14th over via PFF’s rankings, was gilded by their surprisingly phenomenal run blocking. Their pass-blocking was atrocious. Fields tied Russell Wilson as the most-sacked quarterback in the league last season.
The Bears’ pass-catching group, another area needing improvement, saw one receiver (Cole Kmet) catch for over 500 yards last season. That’s abysmal. And the Chase Claypool trade has yet to show substantial benefits to the team and Fields longs for a playmaker.
The list goes on, and on, and on.
The point is, the Bears’ focus for the upcoming offseason is to draft, sign and develop players that will help their team. One of the easiest ways to get a head start on doing so is by trading the No. 1 pick back for future assets, as Orlovsky argues.
“Justin Fields is going to be a really good player in this league if you continue to support him,” Orlovsky said. “If you’re the Bears, it’s not about just acquiring one singular player. You have to get four or five, six, seven really good players. And you got to do that by trading all the way back as much as you can in acquiring a lot of high-level talent.”
