Chicago Bears fans warned not to assume team is picking Caleb Williams

The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine is underway (on-field workouts begin later this week), and like clockwork, the rumors, speculation, and potential misinformation are beginning to fly.

It's been a while since a swell of pro-Justin Fields commentary made its rounds, but that changed Monday. NBC Sports' Peter King wrote in his Football Morning in America that it's his opinion the Chicago Bears will trade the first pick and roll with Fields, going as far as to say, "

As I detail here, Ryan Poles can be quite a chess master this year. His third Combine, he could plot 2 to 3 to 4 moves--and not just one--with a particularly strong QB Draft class, multiple Top 10 picks, and Justin Fields on the roster. https://t.co/orj9dAR6Ph

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) February 26, 2024

I get it. The Chicago Bears will gather all the information they need at the 2024 NFL Combine to make the best decision for the franchise. Poles will have conversations about trades of all types: Fields trades, No. 1 pick trades, No. 9 pick trades. All the trades. All the talk.

Sure, if the Bears decide to trade the first pick to the Washington Commanders (No. 2 overall) and then deal the No. 2 overall to another QB-needy team, they'll come away with a mountain of first-round gold. But football games are won and lost on the field, not in the draft pick ledger. At some point, Chicago has to upgrade the talent on the roster, and if they can add the one quarterback who's alluded the franchise since its inception? Poles can't pass that up.

And I don't think he will.

It'll be difficult to block out the noise, especially since it's already begun. But the best decision for the Chicago Bears is (and always has been) selecting Caleb Williams with the first pick, and any suggestion that they might not sounds more like the Bears trying to create confusion and inflate the trade market.

Only time will tell.