Getty Justin Fields starts the 2022 season as QB1 for the Chicago Bears.
According to one top NFL insider, rumors that the Chicago Bears almost traded for former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2021 were true.
Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, told ESPN back in 2021 that if Wilson were to be traded, the Bears were one of four teams he would be willing to play for. A year and a half later, more information has come to light about how it all went down.
In an ESPN story published September 8, Wilson, who was traded to the Denver Broncos in March 2022, acknowledged that the Seahawks tried to trade him on multiple different occasions.
“Definitely they tried to, a couple of times, tried to see what was out there,” Wilson told Jeff Legwold. “It’s part of the business, being a professional and everything else. … I believe in my talents, of who I am, I feel I’m one of the best in the world.”
Now, Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright of KOA Colorado has added a new Bears-related wrinkle to this particular saga.
Insider: Seahawks Didn’t Want to Draft Justin Fields
When Bears analyst Johnathan Wood of Da Bears Blog mentioned the Bears as a team that was rumored to have been interested in adding Wilson, Allbright chimed in, confirming it was Chicago. Allbright also strongly suggested Seattle nixed the Bears’ offer because they didn’t like the idea of drafting current Bears starting quarterback Justin Fields:
@Johnathan_Wood1 @PFF_Brad It was the Bears. The Seahawks didn’t want Fields
Heading into the 2022 season opener, journeyman QB Geno Smith will be the starter for the Seahawks. Surely they would have preferred to draft a young QB in 2021, but according to Albright, they “didn’t want Fields.”
Dan Patrick Reported in 2021 Bears Offered Huge Sum for Wilson
Back when trade rumors about the Bears and Wilson were swirling, NFL analyst and insider Dan Patrick reported that the Bears offered several first-round draft picks in addition to multiple players in exchange for Wilson, but Seattle head coach Pete Carroll turned the offer down, Patrick said.
“We’ve been talking about Russell Wilson and that the Bears were all in; they tried,” Patrick said back in March 2021, adding:
“They made an offer, and I have an idea of what the Bears have offered, according to a source,” Patrick continued. “I don’t have names attached to this, as far as players, but this is from what I’m being told was the offer that was made to the Seattle Seahawks. It is the following: The Bears offered three first-round picks, a third-round pick and two starters. I don’t know who the starters are. The source close to the Bears doesn’t know who the starters are but that Seattle was interested. But it comes down to Pete Carroll making the decision.”
Bears Nation: Thank You, Seattle
If the reports are true, former Bears general manager Ryan Pace was prepared to offer the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft in addition to multiple future first-round picks in exchange for Wilson, but Carroll and company didn’t want to take a chance on Fields, whom the Bears moved up to trade for at No. 11 overall.
Carroll’s decision turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Bears, who could very well have their franchise quarterback in Fields. Even if Fields doesn’t turn out to be the guy, at least Chicago didn’t mortgage its future in exchange for an aging quarterback. Wilson is a future Hall of Famer, to be sure, but the Bears are building something new, and a 33-year-old QB doesn’t fit in with their current rebuild.
Pace was fired at the end of the 2021 season, making way for new general manager Ryan Poles. Poles has held his draft capital close, which is the opposite of what Pace used to do, and he is currently in the process of reshaping Chicago’s roster. As a result, Poles has a promising young QB on a rookie contract and a first-round selection in next year’s draft.