It's Justin Fields Draft Deja Vu

There will be no quick decision forthcoming on Justin Fields and the Bears quarterback position in the near future from GM Ryan Poles.

Anyone who expected otherwise only deluded themselves.

Poles anticipates doing his due diligence, playing the angles to a hilt while gathering as much information as possible on the quarterback prospects—this would famously be Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall. They have to go through the combine and other interviews and get a sense of the quarterbacks out there before deciding someone is better than Fields.

So Fields and his legion of Bears followers will just have to wait it out until possibly April 25 and the start of the draft before knowing if they've again traded the first pick like last year or this time are trading Fields.

"In my mind right now, I’m gonna take this all the way to April," Poles said.

He insisted he is going to listen to any offer as they do their homework on the quarterbacks available.

"I'll just stay very wide open with the different paths we can go, and as we collect information, if that closes some of those pathways down, then we'll do that, move to the other ones. But I'm going to be wide open about this," Poles said.

This means he's fielding offers and weighing them against Fields. He said it might even mean drafting a quarterback with Fields still on the roster, at this point. It's an open book, but what it takes for Poles to decide on another quarterback instead of Fields should be a familiar to Bears fans everywhere.

It comes straight out of the 2022 Poles offseason playbook. Poles must be "blown away" by a QB prospect because this is how much they like Fields.

"Yeah, I'll actually go back to last year, you know, and I gotta stay open-minded about it but I really, not to use the same quote, but when I say 'I need to be blown away' it's the same setup because seeing the things that Justin did this year, his ability to make plays, coach talked about some of those improvements: keeping his eyes down the field, taking less sacks, you see a lot of growth there where he can continue to get better," Poles said. "So I'll have the same mindset. Someone needs to really show that they can (play).

"And it’s not just the film. Like, I need the person. There's a whole process here that we have to figure out. But what we're going to do is do what's best for the organization. I'm sure there's going to be similar (trade) situations in terms of the trade back and I got to weigh all of those things to see what's going to help our team take the next step."

Poles must get to know those QBs in the draft personally at the combine, the 30 visits, pro days and all the possible methods for being around prospects.

"That's the biggest part," Poles said. "I've got a lot of confidence in our ability to see talent on the field. The human being we've got to figure out. Especially being

a quarterback in this city, you've got to have it right. You've got to have toughness, you've got to have mental toughness. You've got to be able to block things out. So

really, I've got to find out about the human beings."

A factor entering into all of this is Fields will be playing for his third offensive coordinator and in his third offense in four years with the Bears if he remains in Chicago.

"Justin is very smart, very intelligent," coach Matt Eberflus said. "He's able to adapt and adjust, so I don't see that being a problem at all."

Another factor working toward keeping Fields is the intense locker room support he had. It might not be a huge factor at decision time but does help him.

"I have to separate it a little bit, but I absolutely love it," Poles said. "When you talk about building a team, I want that type of support in that locker room. I want those guys when they take the field, I want them to believe in the player that they have at that quarterback position, I want them to believe in the person to their right and to their left. I absolutely love that.

"Any decision, I've got to take the emotion out of it and look at the whole deal there."

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