If you want, you can find glowing reviews of Justin Fields in pretty much every corner of the media. It’s really quite lovely. But I found this one piece of commentary from Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) particularly interesting, if not on its own, for what came next: “It’s still very early for the quarterback class of 2021, but I’m not sure how any impartial observer can watch them all play and not conclude that Justin Fields has the chance to be the most special of the bunch.”
Perhaps that’s not a particularly hot take at the moment (which says a lot), but it’s certainly nice to hear. And when paired with the following comment/expectation, you really start to get the picture …
“By the end of the season,” La Canfora writes. “if the Bears are in the market for a new coach and GM, you will see candidates swooning and begging to get an audience.”
… Justin Fields is a game-changer, man. So much so, that La Canfora is casually tossing potential interest in jobs that aren’t even open right now. And for what it’s worth, he isn’t the first to hint at this possibility.
We already know Fields’ mere presence can change how we talk about this team.
We saw it in spring. The dynamic was different after Chicago made the trade up to take Fields with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That one move changed the entire perception of the offseason and future of the organization.
And we’ve seen it this season, on the field. Let’s face it, Fields put on a show with his late-game heroics on Monday Night Football, and it allowed us, for once, to dream big. That the Bears ultimately lost is beside the point. If only for a moment, we got to feel what it was a like for a quarterback to drag his team from a double-digit deficit to take a lead with less than two minutes left. Not only did that leave us fired up, it left us wanting more in the future.
And now, as La Canfora explains, we might see it again after the season is over. Perhaps we’re not the only ones for whom Fields changes the conversation.
Having a baller at quarterback is a potential landscape changer for the organization. Put simply, Fields is the kind of talent front office types should be foaming at the mouth to build around and head-coaching candidates should be drooling at the opportunity to mold into something great. Hopefully, these discussions continue to grow louder was this season evolves and Fields develops.
Now, with all that said, no, we’re not totally looking ahead to the offseason on the horizon. Not with nine games still to go in the regular season. And, yes, Fields still has plenty to prove. There’s no question about it. But it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore the signs. And we’re not going to ignore the coming offseason, especially because Chicago could (and probably should) be pushing its GM and coach out the door (remember, GM Ryan Pace is in the final year of his contract and Head Coach Matt Nagy has just one year remaining on his own deal).
Perhaps there’s plenty of time for Chicago’s football team to change its path, but if they don’t, it’s nice knowing that potential openings will be highly coveted because of who’s under center.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.