Getty Quarterback Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears.
All six teams most closely linked to a potential trade for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields made moves at the position on Monday, which has drastically altered the outlook on his future this offseason.
However, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday, March 12 that the reason Chicago hasn’t traded Fields has far less to do with him, or a lack of interest in him around the league, than it does with USC quarterback Caleb Williams — the Bears’ prospective No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
Why haven’t the #Bears traded Justin Fields? Well: This isn’t a Justin Fields situation, it’s a Caleb Williams situation. Let me explain…
This is not a Justin Fields discussion. This is a Caleb Williams No. 1 overall pick discussion. What the Chicago Bears are committed to doing … is fully evaluating the quarterbacks who they could take at No. 1, including Caleb Williams.
At the point when they are then settled on taking Caleb Williams No. 1 — which we expect, but we don’t know for sure because this is too important a decision to just go, “Yeah okay, we’ll take this guy, we’ll trade the other guy.”
When they settle on the quarterback that they are taking No. 1, and I do expect them to take a quarterback at No. 1, at that point they will then move to say, “Where are we going to trade Justin Fields?”
History has shown these trades happen a lot of times leading up, like right before the draft, or sometimes during the draft. … So that’s sort of the timeline for these things. But just because they’re not actively shopping him doesn’t really mean anything as it pertains to Justin Fields.
Bears May Be Attempting to Spin Lack of Interest in Justin Fields Around NFL
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
It is clearly the Bears who are providing Rapoport with his information, based on what that information is and how the insider delivered it.
As such, the notion that Chicago is unconcerned having lost the Falcons, Steelers, Raiders, Vikings, Buccaneers and Browns as potential trade partners for Fields in less than 24 hours strains credulity and is cause for the raising of an eyebrow or two.
To the skeptic, it could read like the Bears front office is playing the result by saying, “Oh no, the reason none of those teams dealt for our guy is because we weren’t shopping him yet.” That may be true, it may not be, but there are other ways to perceive what’s happening with Fields. For instance, Jacob Infante’s take Monday via X.
“One of these is true. 1) The trade market for Justin Fields is light because teams think the Bears might keep him. 2) The trade market for Justin Fields is light because nobody thinks he’s a great QB,” Infante wrote. “Which one is it? Time will tell. But a lot of teams have made QB moves already.”
Bears’ Hope of Trading Justin Fields for 2nd-Round Value Now Appears a Stretch
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
With the quarterback landscape what it is now around the NFL, only a couple of teams make reasonable sense as destinations for Fields — the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.
Neither team has caught much heat in the way of trade rumors surrounding Chicago’s quarterback, which could mean Fields is back with the Bears next year serving as a backup or a bridge starter to Williams.
Otherwise, Chicago could be looking at taking late Day-2, or even early Day-3, value to move on from Fields, sending him somewhere as a backup QB option. In any scenario, it appears that the Bears’ hopes of acquiring second-round value for Fields are out the window, and that the time has come to adjust expectations in Chicago.