Justin Fields was clearly in the minds of Caleb and Carl Williams when they were deciding whether or not to nuke the 2024 draft and steer clear of the Chicago Bears.
Fields was the No. 11 pick in the 2021 draft and was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March of 2024 following a stint that included a rookie season under head coach Matt Nagy and two seasons under head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
Fields let everyone who wanted to hear it know that coaching was a real problem for young quarterbacks under Eberflus when he said early in the 2023 season that he planned to disregard the nonsense Getsy was putting in his ear. Following his trade to Pittsburgh, Fields said the Steelers’ coaching staff was much better than the Bears, and it wasn’t “close.”
Caleb Williams was afraid of becoming the next Justin Fields
Per an explosive report on the drama with the Williams family and the Bears by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham for an upcoming book, Carl said Chicago is where “quarterbacks go to die.”
“The Bears had not drafted a star quarterback since the 1980s, and their recent draft selections, Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields, didn’t pan out,” Wickersham wrote. “Carl Williams was worried that, with the franchise’s history, stadium uncertainty and offensive performances under then-head coach Matt Eberflus, Caleb Williams wouldn’t have the organizational support to succeed.
“‘I don’t want my son playing for the Bears,’ Williams told several agents in 2024.”
Wickersham’s report adds another layer of frustration for Bears fans who had high hopes for Fields, and the report serves to vindicate his time in Chicago. Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell (who Williams wanted to play for before the draft last year) said that organizations fail young quarterbacks more often than young quarterbacks fail organizations.
Fields went 4-2 as a starter for Pittsburgh’s last season before a healthy Russell Wilson was given the QB1 job. Fields has another chance to prove he can be a starter in the league with the New York Jets.
The Chicago Bears failed Fields
Many fans on social media who read Wickersham’s report were thinking about what might have been had general manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus not wrecked his career in the same way they did Williams’ rookie season.
“He should never have hired Eberflush and Waldron. Once he saw they weren’t a good fit he should have had or demanded the autonomy to fire them. I believe he’s a good talent evaluator, but he failed Justin Fields, and almost allowed Caleb to be ruined.” wrote a fan on Poles.
“Poles couldn’t see what was going on because Flus was his guy, and he let him blame all the team’s ills on Justin Fields, and with Fields gone in favor of Caleb in Poles’ mind everything was fixed because he believed Flus instead of his best player JJ,” posted another.
“The Bears organization is unbelievably inept in developing ANY kind of QB talent. The Bears front office should be ashamed how they neglected Justin Fields. The sad history was almost repeated with the mismanagement of Caleb Williams. Caleb’s father was right about the (Bears), suggested a fan.
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