In addition to Fields, the team has five potential starters on offense from the last two draft classes. The rest of this season should be used to evaluate whether those pieces are good enough.
It’s clear that the Bears got it right when they picked quarterback Justin Fields in the first round this year. But in order to make that matter, they have to get the right pieces around him — especially in the prime window of his rookie contract over the next few seasons.
With the Bears sitting 3-6, the deepest under water they’ve been during Matt Nagy’s time as coach, the rest of this season is essentially a runway to the future. The most important thing is Fields’ development, and next is setting up everything else he needs.
That includes chairman George McCaskey assessing whether Nagy is the right man to oversee that construction project beyond this season and whether general manager Ryan Pace can supply him with the right parts.
Set aside for a moment that since going 12-4 in his first season, Nagy is 19-22 and has scored the sixth-fewest points in the NFL. Also set aside that the Bears have one winning season and the ninth-worst record over Pace’s tenure.
That’s a conversation for January. For now, it’s imperative that Bears get a clear view of the handful of offensive players they’ve drafted over the last two years — all of whom are 24 or under and signed through at least 2023 — and whether they’re good enough to support a Fields-led push toward contention starting next season.
That blueprint begins with protecting him, something the Bears didn’t do for Mitch Trubisky. The team was confident in its interior offensive line — left guard Cody Whitehair, center Sam Mustipher and right guard James Daniels — but needed an overhaul at both tackles and chose Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, this year.
The early reviews on Borom at right tackle are positive, but a three-game sample isn’t enough to make a determination on his viability. He needs to play every snap the rest of the season, regardless of Germain Ifedi’s health.
Jenkins is a total mystery. He has barely been on the field for the Bears since falling from first-round status because teams were worried about his back problems. Not only was Pace willing to take that risk, but he also planned on moving a lifelong right tackle to the left side.
Jenkins had back surgery in August, and there’s been no indication from the Bears about when he’ll start practicing other than current left tackle Jason Peters saying late last month he thought it’d be sometime in November. Peters has played well and proven to be a good pickup, but Jenkins needs to take over as soon as he’s cleared.
As far as Fields’ weapons, the Bears know what they have in wide receiver Darnell Mooney. He’s at least a good No. 2 wide receiver. Mooney leads the team with 36 catches for 450 yards and two touchdowns and is on pace to crush his totals from last season. Considering Allen Robinson is still in his prime at just 28, the Bears should strongly consider ponying up to keep this pairing together.
Fields will need a go-to tight end, and Cole Kmet just surpassed the yardage total from his rookie season with six catches for 87 yards against the Steelers. Kmet isn’t quite a dynamic playmaker yet, but there has been steady progression. Also, as Fields improves, it’ll make Kmet better as well.
The Bears face a very difficult decision at running back, where David Montgomery was very good in 2020 and got off to a great start this season before hurting his knee. Montgomery is young and talented, but he’ll be looking for a contract extension this offseason.
The Bears need to see whether they could save substantial money by molding sixth-round pick Khalil Herbert into a multi-purpose back. While Montgomery could seek an extension around $10 million per year, the Bears owe Herbert a total of just $2.9 million over the next three seasons.
The Bears badly want the answer to be yes on all those young players because they’ll be extremely limited in the upcoming draft, where they have just two picks in the first four rounds.
If Fields is an elite quarterback, the Bears will always have a shot no matter what they have to pay him. The Seahawks, Buccaneers and Rams were among the best teams in the NFL last season despite their starting quarterback eating at least $25 million in salary-cap space. The Chiefs were more than willing to take their chances with committing $503 million over 10 years to Patrick Mahomes.
But the optimal window to win big is during a great quarterback’s rookie contract — when teams can get an enormous discount at the most important and expensive position.
The Bears will never get a better value than the next four seasons, with Fields set to count $15.4 million from 2022 through ’24 and get a modest bump on his fifth-year option in ’25. Spotrac projects his ’22 hit to be 2% of the salary cap. Imagine how much easier that is to work with than the Seahawks having to maneuver around Russell Wilson taking up 17.4% of their cap this season.
That illustrates the opportunity ahead for the Bears. And they need to start preparing for it now.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/30ubYeq
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