The first of the first-round quarterbacks has signed on the dotted line.
The Bears have agreed to terms with Ohio State item Justin Fields on a completely ensured, four-year deal worth $18.8 million, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero revealed. Fields’ contract includes a $11 million signing bonus, Pelissero added, and will likewise feature the standard fifth-year option that all first-round picks get in their first contract.
Fields’ selection answered – in any event on paper – Chicago’s long-running question under focus, which was just prolonged by the failed experiment involving Mitchell Trubisky. Rather than avoiding spending another first-round pick on a quarterback only weeks after Trubisky departed for Buffalo, the Bears dove right back into the fire, picking a passer who some accept could wind up being better to those selected in front of him in April.
Fields’ play at Ohio State was basically a two-season display of natural talent and athleticism, yet the quality he may require most as he enters the NFL – strength – didn’t genuinely uncover itself until the College Football Playoff. Locked in a tight game with rival Clemson, Fields made an direct helmet shot to his hip and ribs, crumpling to the ground and writhing in pain on the Superdome turf. He battled through the injury to get back to the game and fired a touchdown pass on a sprint out just moments later, in the end getting done with six scores and a success over the Tigers in an memorably gritty performance.
Fields heads to Chicago to join a Bears team led by individual fresh debut Andy Dalton, whose expansion didn’t actually excite most Bears fans. The youngster’s simple presence will without a doubt have Chicago fans pining for his insertion after a short time (if not as of now), but rather the truth will surface eventually whether Fields will be prepared when he steps on to the playing surface in a regular season game. For the time being, it’s tied in with learning the offense and planning as though he’ll begin, since Fields likely will not need to stand by excessively some time before he sees his first opportunity in Chicago.
