Talk of a brewing quarterback competition followed the Bears' selection of Justin Fields.
Those hoping for a little training camp drama will be disappointed to know that the forecast in Chicago still calls for a 100% chance of Andy Dalton as the Week 1 starter.
During a recent appearance on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast, coach Matt Nagy was asked point blank if there's any possible scenario in which this wouldn't be the case come opening night. His response was just as straightforward.
"No. Andy is our starter," Nagy told Collinsworth. "Again, I can't predict anything. You know how it goes. There's so many things that can happen between today and that Week 1, but Andy is our starter and Justin's our No. 2. And we're going to stick to this plan."
Truth be told, Nagy's reply is consistent with what he, Bears GM Ryan Pace and Dalton himself have said since the 33-year-old arrived in the Windy City.
Dalton said shortly after signing in March that he was told he'd start. Pace and Nagy doubled down on that idea in April before the draft, citing his decision-making, leadership and experience.
Of course, Nagy's podcast comments, on top of Tuesday being the start of mandatory minicamp, fanned the flames of speculation about where things stand and prompted one reporter to ask if Dalton was promised QB1 duties when he signed.
"Promises, as we all know, can get pretty crazy. But what we told Andy is that he's our starter and he knows that, and that's what Justin knows, that's what Nick [Foles] knows, the rest of our coaches. We tell these guys knowing that there's got to be a start so that's where we're at," Nagy explained during his media session. "And now, all three of them are gonna be the best quarterback they can be and then that gets into this plan that we keep talking about and it takes a little bit of time.
"There was no promises but we told him, I specifically told him, 'You're our starter.' So, that's that."
As if that response wasn't satisfactory enough, Nagy, when asked if his comments to Collinsworth confirmed Fields has no shot at the starting spot, quickly replied, "Yes, correct. Andy Dalton is our starter."
Sounds like an open-and-shut case, right? Well, not exactly. As we all know, no one is exempt from being replaced in the world of professional sports, unless you're the guy, and that list is pretty exclusive.
For now, the depth chart reads as follows: Dalton, Fields, Nick Foles (remember him?). But just how long will that be the case? Having the vets mentor the rookie -- i.e. the plan being alluded to -- sounds good but what if he comes along faster than expected?
Nagy is aware that the excitement surrounding Fields will remain, and rightfully so given his profile and the fact that Chicago traded up to land him. He even told Collinsworth it's going to be "really, really fun to have a preseason and be able to see what Justin can do in each preseason game."
For now, Fields' supporters will at least have those three contests to look forward to. As for everything else outside of that, the club doesn't intend to deviate from its master plan should things go as projected.
"We all get excited about Justin Fields, we'd all be lying if we said something different but that said, we're excited about Andy Dalton, too," Nagy told reporters. "And we know that if we stick to this plan that we have, that everything's gonna be just fine. Let's face it, when you go through OTAs, when you go through training camp, you go through preseason, the only goal that we have is to put the best quarterback out there and Andy Dalton is our starter, Justin's our No. 2 and Nick's our No. 3. And we're gonna play that out and make sure that they're all competing and that's as simple as that."
