The Chicago Bears made some major changes to their roster this offseason. General manager Ryan Poles had the most cap space in the league to work with and he wasn’t shy about spending it in free agency.
One of the players that he signed very early on was linebacker T.J. Edwards. Edwards, an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin in 2019, played the first four seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. By Year 2 he was a full-time starter with the team and became an integral part of their NFC Championship team.
He signed a three-year, $19.5 million deal with the Bears, departing the City of Brotherly Love in March. They are hoping he can help shore up what was an abysmal fun defense in 2022 and help them turn things around starting in 2023.
However, everyone within the organization knows that the Bears will only go as far as quarterback Justin Fields can take them. Fields made some strides in his second season in the NFL and the franchise is hoping he takes an even bigger one in Year 3.
This is something that Edwards has seen already in his career with Jalen Hurts. Hurts showed signs in his first full season as a starter before fully breaking out in Year 3. He sees some between Hurts and his new quarterback in Fields.
“One thing with Jalen was he was always just kind of calm and collected,” Edwards said. “That’s why we looked to him so much, just because he was always that calming factor. You do see similarities with J Fields. He doesn’t seem to get rattled out there in terms of when we’re mixing up looks on him and stuff like that. Just from what I’ve seen with my first year — him just throwing the ball. Dude’s got such a strong arm, and he’s been very accurate just about this entire OTAs and minicamp. It’s exciting to see, especially since he doesn’t really add in the leg factor when we’re just in helmets and things like that. I’m really excited to play with a guy like that, a guy who can make all the plays who can also lead this team. He’s definitely the guy, so it’s exciting to be around. No doubt.”
Fields hasn’t had the luxury of being surrounded by as talented of a team as Hurts, but the Bears are heading in the right direction. The offensive line has been upgraded in a major way with Nate Davis and Darnell Wright and D.J. Moore provides him with a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver in the passing game.
As Edwards pointed out, the tools are in present for Fields to find plenty of success this upcoming season. He has been drawing rave reviews throughout the offseason and if the progress he has made translates to the field in the regular season, the Bears could surprise some people.
