Getty Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears.
NFL insider Peter King believes the Minnesota Vikings could make a play for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields next offseason.
In an October 31 appearance on 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel Show, co-host Matt Spiegel asked King what he thought Fields’ value would be if the Bears decide to trade the QB in the offseason. King gave an interesting response.
“Justin Fields, if he goes somewhere, you would think that whoever would be trading for him would be trading for him to come in and either play or complete very seriously for a starting job right away,” King told Spiegel, adding:
“The one team that really stands out to me is Atlanta. Another team that stands out to me a bit is Minnesota. We’ll see what happens with Kirk Cousins in the offseason.”
Minnesota Vikings Have Made Multiple Interdivisional Trades
While interdivisional trades aren’t common in the NFL, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo‐Mensah has shown a rare willingness to trade within the NFC North.
In 2022, Minnesota sent a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson and two future fourth-rounders. Adofo-Mensah also traded the No. 12 and 46th pick of the 2022 NFL draft to Detroit.
Adofo‐Mensah also struck a deal with the Green Bay Packers during the 2022 draft, trading the No. 34 overall pick (which turned into wide receiver Christian Watson) in exchange for the No. 42 and No. 59 overall picks.
That’s three times the Vikings GM has traded within the division. The only team he hasn’t struck a deal with is the Bears.
“I know that, ultimately, your first path to the playoffs is winning your division, right? So you never want, obviously, make your division stronger,” Adofo-Mensah explained in February of 2023, via The Detroit News. “But ultimately, the best path I have to the playoffs is putting the best team on the field. So that’s where that starts.”
Would the Bears Trade Justin Fields to an NFC North Team?
If Justin Fields is the guy at QB, the #Bears have two first-round picks and a lot of $$ to spend next offseason.
If he’s not, you still have two first-rounders (both probably high) in a loaded 2024 QB draft class, and you trade him for picks. Perfect future flexibility.
That’s highly unlikely, although not impossible. Bears general manager Ryan Poles was not in charge of the franchise when Fields was taken at No. 11 overall in 2021. Poles has little loyalty to him as a result.
In six starts, Fields has completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has missed two games so far this season with a dislocated thumb, and is on his way to missing a third Week 9.
The 2023 season was primarily supposed to be about evaluating Fields, but it’s nine weeks into the 17-game season, and the evaluation is still incomplete. That makes his trade value near impossible to predict. King thinks a conditional third-round pick that could turn into a second-rounder might be in the ballpark.
“I think a three that could rise to a two would be interesting,” King told Spiegel about what he thought Fields’ trade value is. “I don’t think anybody is going to automatically give a two, but I think a three rising to a two sounds fair.”
With the Bears currently holding the No. 2 and No. 3 overall picks in next year’s draft and quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC) and Drake Maye (North Carolina) likely available, it’s shaping up to be an interesting finish to the year for Chicago.