The Chicago Bears expressed strong faith in quarterback Justin Fields when they decided to trade down from the number one overall pick (thus removing them from the Bryce Young and CJ Stroud equation) in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, Fields, the quarterback the Bears drafted with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft to be the franchise’s offensive cornerstone, hasn’t quite been the answer they’ve been looking for at the position.
Now, the Bears will be thanking their lucky stars that the 2024 first-round pick the Carolina Panthers traded in last year’s draft blockbuster, landed at number one overall. This gives the team a chance to draft USC star QB Caleb Williams, someone who looks like a game-changing talent through and through.
As a result, it looks likelier and likelier that the Bears will be entertaining trade offers for Justin Fields to clear the position for Williams’ assumed arrival. At the very least, according to The Athletic’s survey of eight team executives and coaches, the Bears will be able to net a quality asset in return for the 24-year old quarterback.
As per the survey, the “majority opinion” is that the Bears will be able to net a second or third-round pick in exchange for Fields. Meanwhile, “one executive said he’d be worth a second-rounder or its equivalent value in a package of a third- and fifth-round pick.” The opinion among the executives varied; but one thought that giving up a second-round pick for Fields was already too expensive of a price to pay.
But one outlier opinion, coming from an unnamed coach, thinks that there’s a chance the Bears get a first-round pick for Justin Fields, owing to the law of “supply and demand”.
Bears fans would at least be thankful that they can get plenty of helpful value for Fields even as every team in the NFL knows that they’re moving on from their quarterback of three seasons. Fields may not have fulfilled his potential in Chicago, but the 24-year old quarterback, who’ll be turning 25 in a few days, should be able to help the Bears for one last time as everyone braces for what seems to be his inevitable departure.
