Getty Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
The Chicago Bears appear to have an emerging new trade suitor for quarterback Justin Fields in the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the trade compensation works out how Pro Football Focus predicts, though, Chicago fans could be disappointed.
PFF’s Brad Spielberger recently proposed an exchange between the Bears and Steelers that would offer Fields a fresh start in Pittsburgh as one of his four trades that could “shake up” the offseason. His proposal comes on the heels of a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is “a big fan of Justin Fields.”
Spielberger projects the Bears to receive a 2024 second-round pick (No. 52 overall) and a non-conditional 2025 fifth-round pick from the Steelers in exchange for Fields.
“Fields’ elite athleticism adds an entirely different dynamic to a Steelers offense that was quite stale in 2023, and he opens up the downfield passing game that has been lacking,” Spielberger justified in his article, pointing out that Fields would also have a “legitimate” receiving duo in George Pickens and Diontae Johnson for next season.
The latest odds from DraftKings Sportsbook coming out of the 2024 Super Bowl strongly favor the Steelers (-125) to acquire Fields over the other potential suitors. Atlanta (+600) and New England (+650) are the next most likely to trade for him, while Chicago (+200) is still getting the second-best overall odds to retain him for 2024.
If the Bears receive multiple offers for Fields, though, are the Steelers the ideal choice?
Justin Fields Trade Expected to Net Bears 2nd-Rounder
The Bears would certainly benefit from getting a second-round pick in the 2024 draft. They traded their own second-rounder to Washington in exchange for edge rusher Montez Sweat at the trade deadline. Consequently, it leaves Chicago with a 65-pick gap between their second of two first-rounders (No. 9) and their third-round pick (No. 75).
Still, the Bears netting a pick outside the top 50 and a future Day 3 selection with no immediate impact feels like a light return for Fields given other projections.
Schefter told ESPN Chicago’s ‘Waddle & Silvy’ before the Super Bowl that he believes the Bears could get as much as a first-rounder in exchange for their young quarterback. Even if the Bears settled for a second-rounder, they might find that other suitors — if there are others — are willing to offer a better overall selection in the same round.
The Patriots, for instance, need a new quarterback and could potentially offer up the No. 35 overall selection for Fields. New England may prefer to hold off and use their third overall pick to draft a quarterback, but they could also use it to target Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. if they shipped their second-rounder to Chicago for Fields.
Meanwhile, the Falcons have the No. 43 pick and could add the No. 48 pick as well if Jacksonville extends Calvin Ridley during the 2024 offseason. Based on the conditions of their 2022 trade, the Falcons would receive the Jaguars’ third-round pick (No. 79) instead of their second-rounder if Ridley did not re-sign with the team in free agency.
Bears Insider: ‘The Fields Thing Has Run Its Course’
Publically, the Bears have still not decided what they are going to do at the quarterback position for the 2024 season. There is still a world in which the Bears ride things out with Fields for the final non-option year of his rookie contract and hope their renovated offense under new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron helps unlock his full potential.
If the chatter from NFL insiders is to be believed, though, a change is coming.
One of the latest indications the Bears are planning to move on from Fields comes from longtime team insider Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune. He joined 670 The Score’s ‘Mully & Haugh Show’ on February 12 and reiterated the Bears have decided they want to draft a quarterback and have now moved on to figuring out which one fits them best.
“It’s no longer a question — and I wrote this coming out of the Senior Bowl — it’s not a question of are they going to draft a quarterback or build around Justin?'” Biggs said. “The question now is — it’s very clear — which quarterback are they going to draft? The Fields thing has run its course.”
The Bears do not have a hard deadline for trading Fields, but it stands to reason they would look to get a deal done before the start of the new league year on March 13. If they wait until after NFL free agency begins, they run the risk of teams with clear needs at quarterback turning to veteran options on the open market, such as Kirk Cousins.
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