Former Bears Exec Destroys Mike Tannenbaum For Justin Fields Criticism

Mike Tannenbaum has had it out for Justin Fields since the off-season began in January. The former New York Jets GM urged GM Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears to unload Fields in favor of a new quarterback with the #1 overall pick. Poles declined, sticking with Fields while bolstering the offense around him. Wide receiver D.J. Moore arrived via trade. Right tackle Darnell Wright became his 1st round pick. The Bears wanted to invest in their young quarterback who, contrary to popular myth, actually played better in 2022 after a tough rookie season.

That doesn't seem to have dissuaded Tannenbaum. He doubled down on his Fields criticism when he openly declared Jordan Love would be the best quarterback in the NFC North. Needless to say, that got a reaction from loads of people. Love has shown nothing to indicate he can take over the division. It feels like Tannenbaum based his entire argument on the fact he plays for Green Bay, and the Packers always have great quarterbacks. Well, former Bears scouting director Greg Gabriel had something to say about that take.

"Yesterday, a two-time former NFL GM claimed that the best quarterback in the NFC North is Green Bay's Jordan Love. We all know that is absurd as how good or bad Love is this season remains to be seen. Nothing Love has done to date says he will be good, bad, or indifferent. We just don't know.

That same former GM also has Fields ranked as the worst QB in the NFC North. Of course, it should be pointed out that this former GM basically destroyed two AFC East franchises when he was GM of those two teams, so his opinion is actually a joke."

Mike Tannenbaum can't be trusted with quarterback opinions.

This is the same guy who abandoned a proven quarterback in Chad Pennington for one year of Brett Favre. Then after Favre ditched his New York Jets in 2009, he traded up in the draft to select Mark Sanchez. If that weren't bad enough, he also chose to stick with Ryan Tannehill in 2018 rather than take Lamar Jackson in the 1st round. Maybe his eye for quarterbacks shouldn't be entirely trusted. If this guy couldn't discern what Jackson became, then he was never going to buy into Fields.

Gabriel is correct. If Mike Tannenbaum were any good at his job, then he would probably have a gig in a front office somewhere rather than firing off takes on a channel hemorrhaging so much money that they had to lay off half their workforce. Maybe Love ends up being a great player, but the signs don't point that way. If they did, he would've been starting long before this season. Fields will have his best chance yet to show everybody that their opinions of him were far too premature.