Rival coach may make the Chicago Bears regret trading Justin Fields

The Chicago Bears gave the Justin Fields experiment three full years, even signaling their confidence in No. 1 in the most explicit way possible last year: By foregoing the first overall draft pick in 2023 and the chance at having their choice of the next flashy young quarterback.

But after a lackluster 2023, Chicago finally decided it had seen enough. They traded Fields, doing right by him in sending him to the Pittsburgh Steelers, his preference, and appear poised to select Caleb Williams with the Carolina Panthers' No. 1 overall pick this year that they own.

But, despite giving Fields three years to figure this out, did they actually give up too soon?

Lions head coach hints that maybe there was more than meets the eye with Justin Fields

Asked about Justin Fields, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he was glad to have him out of the division. The Lions previously faced Fields twice per year.

Campbell, who has been in Detroit the exact same length of time Fields has been in Chicago, definitely knows ball. Campbell turned the Lions -- a 5-11 team before he came in that hadn't won a playoff game since 1991 -- into a playoff host, winner, and 12-5 team in 2023.

But what Campbell knows more than ball is how to motivate and create a vision worth buying into.

Mind you, he's winning with Jared Goff under center. Goff deserves a ton of credit for the growth he's experienced as a starting quarterback since coming over from the Rams in a trade, but he's still not seen as a default winner.

There's a tremendous amount of success happening in Detroit in large part because of the culture Campbell has instilled in the organization. He seems to know someone like Fields, with the physical attributes and history of college success, might have been just a few tweaks away, and perhaps a better coach, from winning and causing sizable troubles for the NFC North.

The crucial implication here is that Campbell knows Caleb Williams is coming down the pipeline for the Bears. Though he's not explicitly saying he thinks Fields will be better than Williams, he's definitely putting them on a nearly-balanced scale.

Campbell, now, needs to focus in on the Green Bay Packers more than anything. Jordan Love looks like a winner and has declared the team is after a Super Bowl in 2024.

But Fields is out, and that's one less thing to worry about. Now, they'll be up against a rookie under center.