As the Chicago Bears prepare for the start of the 2021 NFL season, one thing has been a certainty since mid-March — Andy Dalton is the team’s starting quarterback heading into their Sunday Night Football showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.

Even though there’s certainly an argument that rookie Justin Fields did enough to prove he’s ready to start right out of the gate, just like three of his rookie draft class counterparts.

But we can also agree on one thing — it’s going to be sooner rather than later when Fields gets his chance to start in place of Dalton. We just don’t know when, exactly, although you could argue it could be as soon as the second half in Week 1.

While we wait for Fields to get his starting chance, we decided to have some fun with our Andy Dalton Leash Watch, where we take a weekly look at how short — or long — Dalton’s leash is heading into a given week, until it’s inevitably pulled.

Whether it lasts for six weeks, three weeks or one half of football remains to be seen. But we’ll be following along the entire way.

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the shortest and 10 the longest leash, here’s where Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 1.

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Week 1 Leash Length: 5

If you listened to Matt Nagy’s press conference on Monday, it’s hard to leave that believing Dalton’s leash is anything but short right out of the gate. Even if Nagy remains dedicated to Dalton as his Week 1 starter, just like when he promised him the starting job when he signed with Chicago earlier this offseason.

The fact that Nagy has admitted he and his coaching staff have discussed all scenarios when it comes to the quarterback position is quite telling, as they’ve already considered windows to insert Fields into the starting lineup.

It’s not a surprise, given Nagy already said he’s feel comfortable putting Fields in a regular season game right now. Because shouldn’t Fields just be the starter if that’s the case?

Even at the start of the 2021 NFL season, Dalton’s leash is short. And it feels more like Fields is waiting in the wings for the starting job more than he is simply developing behind Dalton.

How does Dalton's leash get shorter?

If Dalton comes out and immediately struggles, the leash will no doubt get shorter, although it might not necessarily get to the point where Nagy would look to bench him in favor of Fields.

Nagy has raved about this offense’s ability with Dalton under center, and if the offense continues to stall — and Dalton is a big contributor to those struggles — that’s when things could get ugly.

While it seems like a bit of a longshot that Dalton will play so badly to the point where Nagy yanks the leash entirely — although never say never — we’ve seen that Nagy has a quick trigger when it comes to pulling struggling quarterbacks, especially following one brutal turnover.