This ‘mini-Mahomes’ could revive a fallen NFL giant. They’d just need to sack their young gun QB first

Week 17

“Coming from the Midwest, there is a certain amount of pride that comes with being able to live in, play in, work in, battle the elements and I just don’t think people in Chicago are gonna take their quarterback – the man who is supposed to be the face of their franchise – too kindly that he says it ‘is very difficult to adjust to, especially the wind’,” NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl said during a recent episode of ‘Good Morning Football’.

“The wind makes Chicago, it’s called the Windy City.”

Co-host Peter Schrager echoed Erdahl’s sentiment suggesting it could fuel thoughts of the franchise trading Fields and moving forward with Young.

“I think it’s a wide open book. I saw (GM) Ryan Poles and (head coach) Matt Eberflus in Super Bowl week. They were both there and of course they weren’t giving anything away but I think when you finish the season with the worst record in the sport (then) nobody is untouchable,” he said.

FS1’s Skip Bayless took it a step further during a segment on ‘Skip and Shannon: Undisputed’ suggesting he’d do more than consider it.

“I got a big problem with this (the comments), for Justin’s sake,” Bayless said.

“The greatest home field advantage in this league – when they have good teams – is home cold advantage, not in Green Bay, but in Chicago because Chicago’s weather is worse than Green Bay’s… because of the wind.

“It gets freezing cold and it gets ridiculously windy coming off that lake… It’s part of the Bears mystique, it’s part of the fabric of the franchise is ‘we will beat you in our weather, you have to come play in our weather’. Justin’s saying (with these comments) ‘I can’t take this weather because I don’t like it, I can’t throw in the cold’. No Justin, that’s who your franchise has been and you have to embrace it as part of what makes you the Chicago Bears.

“… Bryce Young is special. Bryce Young is a much better thrower of the football as we speak than Justin Fields is. So to me you risk a long-term nightmare if you let Bryce Young go somewhere else and light it up (because) you could’ve had him, you’ve got the first overall pick but to do so (draft Young) you would have to move Justin Fields… If I’m the Bears I’m sitting right there (at number one) and I’m taking Bryce Young and Justin Fields can go to the highest bidder.”

Co-host Shannon Sharpe concurred.

“Even if that’s the case you never say that out loud,” the NFL Hall-of-Famer said.

“Justin Fields basically just said trade me cause guess what the weather ain’t gonna brighten up. It’s not like all of a sudden it’s about to be Miami.

“… The man said this out loud. The weather is not gonna change in Chicago. (The worst part is) it’s in his mind, he believes that he doesn’t play as well in the cold weather as he does in the warm weather… Some things you just can’t say out loud. You can think that, but I’m never saying that out loud.”

Fellow FS1 sportscaster Colin Cowherd said rather than complain, the best quarterbacks throughout NFL history have viewed the cold weather as a competitive advantage over their opponents.

“It is an edge to play in Chicago. Fields sees it as an issue… You’re talking yourself into this thing not working. I get it it’s cold (but) great quarterbacks are not seeking comfort, they’re all seeking an edge,” he said during a recent episode of ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’.

“… If you look at Fields record in just temperatures under 40 (degrees fahrenheit or 4.4 degrees celsius) it’s awful. Zero (wins) and seven (losses), 61 per cent completion percentage, passer rating (in) the mid eighties. I got news for you Justin, Chicago’s not getting warmer.”

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The Bears possess $142 million (all currency AUD) in salary-cap space — about $59.6 million more than the Falcons and more than double that of the other 30 teams, according to Spotrac — and the No. 1 pick in the draft. Add a possible quarterback change, a 12-year streak without a playoff win and questions about whether they picked the right head coach to the intrigue.

“The Bears could be a quick fix,” one NFL scout told The Post, “or could make miscalculations that set them back a few years.”

One year ago, the Jaguars hired Doug Pederson, committed $377.9 million ($225.2 million guaranteed) to seven free agents and drafted pass-rusher Travon Walker at No. 1. They reached the playoffs and advanced for the second time since the 2007 season, birthing a phrase not often said: Copying the Jaguars’ blueprint for success.

The first big decision awaiting the Bears is whether to stick with dual-threat quarterback Justin Fields and trade the No. 1 pick to a quarterback-needy team, or to trade Fields and start over with pocket-based rookie Bryce Young. Free agency will begin six weeks before the draft, but the Bears’ level of aggressive spending likely will be tied to the Fields-Young decision.

“Absolutely the Bears should stick with Justin Fields,” former quarterback and Fox analyst Michael Vick said before Super Bowl LVII.

“Good quarterbacks are hard to find. That second year in a system (2023) is paramount throughout the off-season to learn what needs to happen. I think they are a step ahead of the curve right now. They just have to make Justin a better passer, and get an offence around him that can really help him take it to the next level.”

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That may be easier said than done, especially with no plan to change co-ordinators, but sticking with Fields would allow the Bears to further stockpile assets by trading the No. 1 pick for a bounty of selections and still securing a top prospect to rebuild a weakened defence.

At least six teams with top-10 picks are in the market for a new quarterback.

Fields’ QBR (which includes rushing impact) improved by more than 20 points and jumped from ranked No. 31 as a rookie to No. 17 last season, which raises a sometimes-risky question: What could he be with better weapons around him? The Giants asked the same about Daniel Jones after his first two seasons, and it led to disastrous investments in Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Kyle Rudolph.

The Bears made what looks like a regrettable mid-season trade of the No. 32 pick (first in second round) for enigmatic receiver Chase Claypool (two years left on his contract) with that same question in mind. With just one more season to evaluate Fields before deciding on his team option for 2025, the expiring clock could force Chicago to sign a top running back (Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley or Miles Sanders) and a top tight end (Mike Gesicki, Evan Engram or Dalton Schultz).

Trading Fields, however, would restart the timeline for general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus, whose 3-14 debut season is more forgivable as an unofficial “Year 0” with a quarterback inherited from the last regime than as Year 1 of their union. The Bears would have four years of control over Young, whose salary-cap hits actually would be bigger (the No. 1-overall pick is expected to sign a four-year, $59.3 million contract) than Fields’ ($16.1 million combined in 2023-24).

ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum believes that’s the path Chicago should take this off-season.

“The last two years Justin Fields has 140 sacks, fumbles and interceptions. He’s only played in 27 games and leads the NFL in those categories. That’s not to say he can’t get better because I believe he will, but his proclivities of turning the ball over is a concern,” he said during an appearance on ‘Get Up’.

“I’ve scouted Bryce Young, I think Bryce Young’s ceiling is way higher than Justin Fields… I think he has a chance to be a great player, I think Justin Fields has a chance to be a good player but those negative plays though do concern me.

“I think I can get a first-round pick for Justin Fields so I’m gonna take Bryce Young (and) I’m gonna reset the quarterback clock… That rookie quarterback clock is hugely consequential when we’re talking about $50 million or more and now we can push that out four more years and we (the Bears) can recoup cap space and a draft choice.

“I think for the totality of the situation, the Bears are better off with (drafting) Young and trading Fields.”

Pro Football Focus’ Steve Palazzolo shared Tannenbaum’s sentiment during a recent appearance on the ‘Dan Patrick Show’.

“We graded him (Fields) as a below average passer but unbelievable runner which is exactly what we saw on the field,” he said.

“I’ve always thought he has the passing ability so there’s so much potential there with Justin Fields. I do think the Bears should be doing their due diligence on Bryce Young and the other quarterbacks (available).

“Bryce Young in particular, he’s the number one quarterback on the PFF draft board (so) I do think you have to weigh taking Bryce Young at one and potentially trading Justin Fields… I would take Bryce Young and I would look to trade Justin Fields, that’s my first option if I have a good enough market for Justin Fields.”

FS1’s Colin Cowherd also encouraged the Bears to explore trading Fields in order to draft Young during a segment on ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’.

“Put your pompoms down in Chicago. (The move you have to consider) is moving off Justin Fields. In two years he’s been bad and bad… In two years he completes 59 per cent (of his passes), has a passer rating under 80, (has thrown) 24 TDs and 21 picks. It’s bad,” he said.

“… Here’s four reasons (why you should trade Fields). One more season of average to bad (quarterback play) and you’ll get nothing (in return) for him. Secondly, the Bears have a defensive coach and a defensive culture and they (GM Poles and head coach Eberflus) didn’t draft him, he’s not their guy. Third, Chicago probably won’t have the number one pick for a while, I don’t think they’ll be good but you’re not gonna be in this territory again (so) use the opportunity. Four, you had Khalil Mack and Roquan Smith and you couldn’t win games (so do) you think (Alabama linebacker) Will Anderson is gonna come in and turn the franchise around. In an offensive pivoting league where it’s hard to go on a 10-game losing streak… they lost 10 straight games.

“I think you have to consider calling Atlanta and saying we’ll give you Justin Fields, give us your eighth pick and then go get Bryce Young. Then go get the second or third best edge rusher. I like Justin Fields but… I don’t think he’s a guy that can succeed if the circumstances aren’t great, he’s more (like) Trey Lance, he’ll work if he gets the right stuff (around him) and I don’t know if Chicago will have the right stuff.”

Splurging on free-agency additions this off-season would help Young’s development just as much as they would for Fields, but the money easily could be saved for a shopping spree when Young is further developed, thus changing the current free-agent market.

Fields has shown promise since entering the league, setting the franchise’s single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback this past season (1,143) while also becoming just the third quarterback in NFL history to crack the 1,000 yard mark after Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson.

Young however has shown a prolific ability to sling the football, breaking the Alabama school record for passing yards in a game (559), while leading the Crimson Tide to a 13-4 record in his two seasons as a starter and even drawing comparisons to a young Patrick Mahomes.

“To me, Bryce Young is a smaller version of Patrick Mahomes,” ESPN’s Todd McShay said on ‘Get Up’.

“The presence he has in the pocket. The ability to feel pressure coming. The ability to see the whole field and make all the throws with really good touch and timing. He’s different then all these other guys.

“Personally I would take Bryce Young, if I was Chicago. I would do it because I would want Bryce Young cause I think he’s an upgrade over Justin Fields and I want his rookie contract so I have five years (with a low cap hit to build the team around him).”

Whichever way the Bears decide to go, Eberflus is under pressure to make it work quickly. Of the 12 external head coach hires (not internal promotions) made over the past two seasons, Eberflus is one of three with primarily a defensive background.

The Bears chose Eberflus over fellow finalists Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn. The Giants’ Brian Daboll, who was named the NFL Coach of the Year, and Pederson, the second runner-up, didn’t receive second interviews with Chicago.

“There’s not a lot of Andy Reids and Nick Siriannis around,” NFL legend Michael Vick said.

Safe to say it’s a big off-season for Eberflus and the Bears franchise as a whole with the impending quarterback decision set to shape their future.

Sections of this article were originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission