Justin Fields hasn’t even begun his second season yet with the Chicago Bears. It is far too early to know whether he is a bust or not. Yet everybody has him at the bottom of the NFC North food chain behind Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Jared Goff. The team is in the middle of a rebuild and is busy revamping both the system and personnel around him. That makes it difficult to determine where he is at. Talent is not the problem. He showed last year that he has all the tools to be a weapon at the quarterback position. The issue is consistency.
Hopes are high that he can begin showing more of it this year. Yet, some experts are writing off 2022 as a lost season for Fields. Former QB Dan Orlovsky said he has no chance of doing anything. Nate Atkins of the Bears Wire went so far as to line up alternatives, presuming he flops. His two primary veteran names to get excited about as potential replacements are Ryan Tannehill and the aforementioned Cousins.
“Assuming no extensions are signed, Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill will be unrestricted free agents in 2024. They will each be 35 years old and hopefully able to play for a couple of years while a rookie sits and learns the NFL system.”
When Kirk Cousins is the big alternative? You know it’s bad.
If any quarterback has represented the line between good and great, it’s him. Cousins’ numbers over his career have been impressive, with six 4,000-yard seasons and at least 30 touchdowns in three of the last four years. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much in the win column, as the Minnesota Vikings managed double-digit wins in only one year with him at quarterback. He is 1-2 in the playoffs. He is the poor man’s Dan Marino.
The Bears signing him in 2024 would be the equivalent of them signing Chris Chandler in 2002. They’d be getting a guy past his prime with most of his good years in the rearview mirror. Keep in mind they went 5-3 against him since 2018 despite having the supposedly inferior quarterback every time. Kirk Cousins would be a waste of time and money. Let somebody else try to squeeze the last drop of juice out of that fruit.
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Assuming Fields will fail is not the best way to navigate this situation, and the Bears know that. They must focus all of their time and effort on helping him succeed. If he reaches his potential, he’ll be far better than Cousins ever was.
