Caleb Williams not doing "medicals" until his visit to Halas Hall

[sevvy]

That won't be happening until after his Pro Day at USC on March 20th.

From all indications, it shouldn't be an issue. But there are definitely some "what if" scenarios here. And if you think about it like this: The Bears trade Justin Fields, then do a full medical work up on Caleb Williams and find an "uh oh". That would be a disaster for the Bears.

That is the biggest concern here for me. I definitely feel a bit uneasy about the Bears trading their QB before they have everything they need to know to be completely certain on drafting Caleb Williams.

How much of a concern do you guys think this is? And how much of a concern do you think this is for Poles? I'm not going to panic about this or anything, but it definitely is a concern. And it may be a concern going forward as other players opt out of medicals at the NFL Combine.

EDIT: I used the word "concern" a whole lot.

 

[Chicoman]

I was writing this up yesterday, but then erased because I felt like I was panicking. lol.

Glad I’m not the only one who sees that risk of trading JF1 a week before we get the medicals on CW.

I’m sure it’ll be fine no matter what they find, but the CW team making us sweat for no reason.

 

[MurrDogg34]

If there is a medical question so severe that the Bears change their mind about taking him #1, and have already traded Fields, they'll just draft a different QB. That QB will still have a chance, in their rookie season, to be better than Fields was last year.

 

[Butkus34]

Doubt it, but say the Bears do trade Fields, then the medicals are not good at all for CW. The Bears would still have Maye and the others to really look at and dammit, BAGENT

 

[Chicoman]

Devalues the pick though. And if they do not have great grades in the qbs is it better to take another top pick, say mhj, and pick up someone later or roll with what they have? Would probably cost Poles his job.

 

[truthbedamned]

Like I said yesterday. I don't like the Bears capitulating to the Williams group. Poles should have stuck to his guns. Next thing you know they will request Caleb have his own office aka Russell Wilson.

 

[Chicoman]

own office with a massage table.

 

[Kurtosis]

Like I said yesterday. I don't like the Bears capitulating to the Williams group. Poles should have stuck to his guns. Next thing you know they will request Caleb have his own office aka Russell Wilson.

I was under the assumption the decision was mutual. Did something come out otherwise to suggest differently?

 

[truthbedamned]

I was under the assumption the decision was mutual. Did something come out otherwise to suggest differently?

Do you really think the Bears would admit to being forced into it? The Bears wanted CW in Chicago today. The CW team said no. What part of that says mutual?

 

[zabavka]

Do you really think the Bears would admit to being forced into it? The Bears wanted CW in Chicago today.

Nothing would have said Happy Birthday Justin quite like having your possible replacement brought in the day of your birthday!

 

[Kurtosis]

Do you really think the Bears would admit to being forced into it? The Bears wanted CW in Chicago today. The CW team said no. What part of that says mutual?

I don’t think it says anything other than the scheduling didn’t work out.

 

[Toast88]

Even if this wasn’t the case, moving on from Fields would necessitate Poles feeling conviction about more than one quarterback in the draft, because shit happens.

Point being, I’m not sure the medicals “issue” is going to affect the Bears choosing to move on from Fields.

 

[legendxofxlink]

Just make the Fields trade contingent on CW passing his medical and not being a douche or having his own podcast for 2 years. There, easy.

 

[PhilEBuster]

own office with a massage table.

That won't work. Look what happened with Alan Williams . . .

 

[Chicoman]

That won't work. Look what happened with Alan Williams . . .

I don't see why not since there is a vacancy.

 

[sevvy]

If there is a medical question so severe that the Bears change their mind about taking him #1, and have already traded Fields, they'll just draft a different QB. That QB will still have a chance, in their rookie season, to be better than Fields was last year.

That's one way to look at it. But I would hope they're trying to have a more calculated approach to this whole situation. Which is probably one of the reasons why they wanted Caleb Williams to be at Halas Hall this week, instead of after the 20th.

 

[Luke]

Even if this wasn’t the case, moving on from Fields would necessitate Poles feeling conviction about more than one quarterback in the draft, because shit happens.

Point being, I’m not sure the medicals “issue” is going to affect the Bears choosing to move on from Fields.

Of course not, it's not like its just CW or JF.
I'd bet dollars to donuts Poles has already moved on from JF.

 

[Da Coach]

This smells like Carl

 

[DavidH]

It's entirely possible (probable) that they've decided to move on from Fields regardless of whether they draft Williams or not.

 

[Rise]

I like that Poles has an approach of checking off every box before making a decision. He can’t sign off on Caleb without the medical so that decision will not come before that Halas Hall visit.

Fields while somewhat tied to this decision it is not exclusive. They could pick a different QB from both even if it is extremely unlikely. I think to make this trade they have to be comfortable with this possibility. If they are not then you simply wait it out.