Former GM addresses how Justin Fields can save Bears career

Former NFL general manager and current ESPN front office insider Mike Tannenbaum believes quarterback Justin Fields will have to make a significant leap before Week 18 concludes to prevent the 3-8 Chicago Bears from drafting his eventual replacement this coming spring. 

"Justin Fields is going to have to play out of his mind because if it's close, the economics are so compelling to take another quarterback to reset the clock," Tannenbaum told ESPN's Courtney Cronin for a piece published Monday. "If you could reset the clock on a rookie quarterback alone, Justin Fields would have to be two to three times the player to not take a quarterback because you have to think about all those other players you can add with the savings."

Tannenbaum was referencing how the Bears must exercise or decline the fifth-year option for 2025 attached to Fields' rookie contract by next May. That option is estimated to be worth $23.3M, far more money than Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans or North Carolina Tar Heels star Drake Maye will cost any club next season. 

The Bears are on track to possess the top pick in the 2024 draft via their March trade with the Carolina Panthers. 

As for Fields, he hasn't yet proven himself as somebody capable of evolving into a top-tier passer at the highest level. ESPN stats show he went into Monday's game at the 6-5 Minnesota Vikings ranked 23rd in the NFL among qualified players with a 45.0 adjusted QBR and 26th with a 62.7% completion percentage on the season. 

Meanwhile, one unnamed AFC executive told Cronin that Williams could be a top-10 quarterback in the league "the day he showed up" to a team's facility after the draft. 

"A lot of the things they're asking Fields to do, Caleb does better," one NFC national scout added. "This guy thrives on his ability to improv, create on his own and turn a dead play into a highlight."