Bear Digest

Third Door for Bears Has Multiple Options

The Caleb Williams-Justin Fields debate has a third option that includes multiple QB choices and extra draft picks but not the USC QB.
Gene Chamberlain|
Third Door for Bears Has Multiple Options
Third Door for Bears Has Multiple Options

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Chicago Bears

On Monday, it will be four weeks since reports surfaced the Bears had agreed to terms with Shane Waldron to be offensive coordinator.

Waldron hasn't spoken yet with media, but it would be interesting to hear about his plans for the offense because it could indicate a direction they might go with the first pick of the draft.

It's more than likely nothing close to this would be said as the Bears want to keep the guessing game going on over drafting Caleb Williams or keeping Justin Fields. It helps drive up trade value of either player.

This seems to be a clear choice between the two players because the idea of keeping both prevents the Bears from gaining any extra draft capital by trading the other one, and also could lead to other problems within the locker room or even the quarterback room. 

It's more likely if they choose to pick Williams, he's going to need to play right away as the draft's first pick. Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence and Bryce Young all were QBs drafted No. 1 overall and started from the outset. Baker Mayfield was the last QB chosen first who didn't start the opener and the Browns chose, instead, to start Tyrod Taylor in the opener instead. They'll have to explain why.

Long term, keeping Fields means they'll run into a tougher salary cap situation in 2026, but drafting Williams means the QB plays for a bargain rate three more years.

There is a Door No. 3 to all of this, and it can include keeping both QBs for at least a season.

Door No. 3 is trading down for extra picks, then drafting either Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels or any of several other QBs who could be taken later in Round 1 or Round 2.

Door No. 1 means Fields is gone. 

Door No. 2 means Fields is the guy for the future with a key new draft pick at receiver like Marvin Harrison Jr. and possibly several other picks obtained in a package for moving back.

Here's a look at Door No. 3 and what it means.

1. Fields a Bridge Too Far

Fields would be in the role of the bridge quarterback or he wouldn't necessarily have to be the bridge quarterback. A bridge QB in Chicago is a dirty word because it brings up memories of Mike Glennon and Andy Dalton, two short bridges. Fields as a bridge would have the opportunity to prove this season he is more than merely the place holder. He would be there to prove he is still the one to lead the team into the future. He can try to improve under a new offensive coordinator and in a new system.

If the improvement isn't great enough, the Bears would have either Maye, Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. on hand already training as the understudy.

Either way, Fields would not have his fifth-year option picked up and would need to do what Daniel Jones had to do with the Giants. Maybe he proves himself like Jones apparently did. Maybe he falls flat on his face and leaves as a free agent to a smaller pay day like Mitchell Trubisky did after four years.

Regardless, the difference between this and Door No. 1 is that the Bears used their first pick in the trade down for the QB who will replace him. In Door No. 1, they draft MHJ after trading down and simply go on with Fields backed up by Tyson Bagent or maybe a later round pick like Taulia Tagovailoa.

2. Maye Day

The Fields bridge would likely be to Maye, whose 6-foot-5 height and strong arm have impressed many scouts. Bears fans will have to simply accept the fact they've drafted another North Carolina quarterback with the second pick after making a trade. This is a little different than Trubisky. Maye's assets as a passer appear far ahead of what Trubisky's were.

Former NFL QB Tim Hasselbeck, an analyst for ESPN, believes Maye should be the first pick in the draft without a trade back.

"I think Drake is the best quarterback in this class," Hasselbeck said on NFL Live. "I've been working at ESPN for 15 years evaluating quarterbacks. He's as promising that I've ever seen."

North Carolina football has a little higher level passing attack than with Trubisky. Last year Sam Howell threw for more passing yards with Washington than any Bears quarterback has in the franchise's 104-year history. Howell preceded Maye at North Carolina but Maye made Tar Heel fans forget all about Howell.

There is the impression Maye is a pocket passer in the mold of Kirk Cousins. He's probably more like Justin Herbert. He does prefer to stay in the pocket and use his height to see downfield against the coverage but he also scrambles. His 1,147 yards rushing in two seasons are fifth among all FBS QBs in the last two years.

Many scouts would like to see the ball out faster from him but he wasn't as slow to get rid of it as Williams, who Pro Football Focus timed at an averaged of 3.24 seconds, slowest among all Power 5 Conference QBs.

What Maye does very well is stand and deliver. He'll do it over the middle in the intermediate range without fear on all forms of passes, from slants and skinny posts, to dig or dagger routes.

PFF says Maye had 102 attempts targeting the intermediate part of the middle of the field, 10 to 19 yards, 19 more than Williams and 31 more than Daniels. He had five "big-time throws" last year, according to PFF's cloaked definition of the term. Williams had one and Daniels none. In fact, PFF has Maye graded higher for the past two seasons than Williams at passing from a clean pocket, on straight dropbacks, on first and second downs, on straight dropbacks without play action, at throwing beyond the sticks, at limiting negative plays and in all "stable" passing metrics. But they have Williams rated their top pick overall. Go figure.

Maye isn't going to produce the magical plays like Williams does as he holds the ball and moves around in and out of the pocket like Patrick Mahomes, but he's no statue. He does need to get better at coming off his initial receiver and going to second or third reads according to many scouting reports. There's also a tendency to make too many easy throws poorly or slightly off the mark, a problem Fields often has.

By taking Maye at No. 2, the Bears likely would get extra picks but not a first-round bonanza simply for dropping one slot. Unless they really managed to pick Washington's pocket, they could get a second-round pick besides Washington's first-rounder to draft Maye. They could use it for help at center, safety or the pass rush while they use their own ninth pick for another wide receiver. They might get another early pick in the future but it wouldn't help this year.

The reason the Bears would choose to take this route would be to give Maye time to adjust and to have continuity in the form of Fields.

Those who would say it makes no sense to keep Fields and another first-round passer on the roster because they lose the QB's trade value need to quit being greedy.  They're already going to rake in huge number of extra picks by trading away the first pick. If they can't build a sufficient winning team off of two straight years worth of trading down from the draft's first pick, then maybe it's someone higher up in the Halas Hall food chain besides the current quarterback or even the head coach who needs to be sent packing.

They could afford to see Fields leave as a free agent if they don't want him if they have had two straight years of extra top draft picks.

3. Daniels' Virtues

Most mock drafts and analysts put Daniels as No. 3 behind Williams and Maye. And although there has been a rumble about pushing the 2023 Heisman winner up in the order ahead of Maye, most mock drafts on NFL Mock Draft Database have the order Williams, Maye and then Daniels. Maye is named on 54% of mocks at second and Daniels on 49% at No. 3.3.

PFF does have Daniels graded higher than both Maye and Williams for avoiding negative plays. They have him better than Williams on straight dropbacks, on first and second down and on the consensus for all metrics. But he's third overall.

Daniels has great mobility but often leaves himself exposed to big hits and has a tendency not to protect the ball outside the pocket. He'll scramble with almost the kind of speed Fields has, but scouts have noted a real reluctance to throw downfield. Some blame this on the lack of a big arm, but on the times when he does throw deep he shows sufficient arms strength.

At 6-4, 210, there are real questions about whether he can take some hits he'll absor in the NFL unless he adds some muscle or cuts way back on his running. But his passing has been accurate enough to be considered for selection with the second or third pick.

If the Bears moved back to No. 2 and selected Daniels, it might be a real surprise but if they moved back to No. 3 and did it they would be set up far better to find more receiver or pass rush help with even more draft picks.

4. The Nuclear Option

Door No. 3 could actually include the Bears doing what they did last year and trading way back out of the top three spots if they got an offer they couldn't refuse. Because Williams is more highly regarded league-wide, it would have to be a much better offer than the ridiculous one they got last year when they moved back and obtained DJ Moore. 

Would the Bears actually trade down out of the top three spots to where they couldn't get one of those three QBs or even Harrison and simply stick with Fields for next year? They would give up on Harrison because the receiver-needy Cardinals would likely take him at No. 4. They might even miss out on the top three receivers because they'd be waiting until No. 9 unless they moved up a spot or two with that pick.

However, the other QBs—McCarthy, Penix and Nix—would be possiblities later in Round 1 for the Bears. They'd be understudies to Fields, learning the way Mahomes learned as a rookie or the Packers did with both Love and Rodgers. It might take more than one year and if it did then Fields would need to have his fifth-year option picked up.

Of the three, there is concern over Penix' past of suffering multiple season-ending injuries. Nix's willingness to challenge defenses with his arm is questioned. McCarthy hasn't passed enough as Jim Harbaugh's QB at Michigan but when he did there was evidence he might be a better choice than either Penix or Nix. 

He's also a winner, as the national title proved.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt trading back beyond No. 3 would really bring the Bears a haul. 

It's difficult to say at this point what it could mean but there are teams like the Raiders, Falcons and even the Broncos who want a top QB and might be willing to toss around first-round picks into the future for years in a bigger way than Carolina did last year.

Because of this, it would be easy to see the Bears not only being able to address future QB, wide receiver, center and pass rusher in Rounds 1 and 2 but getting even extra third-rounders to pursue a safety. They'd even have first-rounders for the future should everything go sour for the regime.

The problem is, just like with all of the Door No. 3 options, they would be giving up the right to try for the Mahomes type.

That kind of opportunity doesn't come along often.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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