The Chicago Bears best path forward for QB Justin Fields
By Jason Parini
Phase 2: Justin Fields’s 5th-year option
Okay, stay with me here. After Fields finishes this season (assuming he’s healthy enough to finish under center), the Bears will have a decision to make about his fifth-year option.
But they shouldn’t pick it up.
That leaves the Bears with two options:
A) Turn to a QB in the draft (either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye)
or
B) Let Fields play out next year in a contract year and re-sign him if he shows promise, much like the Los Angeles Chargers did with Justin Herbert.
The Chicago Bears should decline Justin Fields’s 5th-year option
The only instance that the Bears pick up his fifth-year option is if he balls out this season and the Bears get a pick too low for a franchise QB in the draft. And let’s be honest, given the fact that Luke Getsy will still be calling the plays and Fields will be behind the same offensive line, it’s safe to say that’s not happening.
That will make the decision much easier on the Bears.
Ideally, this will put pressure on Fields and the offense to perform well from the start of training camp and could very well create a QB battle heading into 2024.
That brings us to the final step.