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The Chicago Bears might have to wait until next month’s 2024 NFL draft for their next good opportunity to trade starting quarterback Justin Fields.
The Bears have seen the trade market for Fields shrink over the past several days with several teams in need of starting quarterbacks signing veteran solutions in the first wave of 2024 NFL free agency. A number of the league’s backup jobs are also no longer available, making it much more difficult for Chicago to find a trade partner for Fields.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, though, the Bears are not “necessarily in a rush” to get Fields off their roster despite no teams meeting their asking price for him. And because they are in no rush, they have the luxury of being able to hold onto him until the start of the draft and see if a better opportunity arises from another team’s miss.
“Most sources that I’ve spoken with gave me the indication that they believe that somebody in the draft will not get the quarterback that they want,” Cronin said March 15 on ESPN’s ‘Get Up.’ “That could be the best time for Ryan Poles to strike and get closer to the draft compensation that he had originally sought after for Justin Fields.”
The 2024 quarterback class is strong, but the current draft order makes it extremely likely that Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels will come off the board in the first three selections. If that’s the case, then multiple teams could be clamoring to move up for J.J. McCarthy and at least one of them will need a fallback plan.
Could Fields be that fallback plan for a team that misses in the NFL draft?
How Much Does Bears’ Urgency Change After Draft?
Cronin makes an excellent point about Fields. Now that many of the potential suitors for Fields have turned their attention to other veteran options, the best opportunity to get a quality return for him might be in the NFL draft if the right team gets desperate.
The Vikings could be that team; though, they acquired a second first-round pick (No. 23) from the Houston Texans on March 15 and now have the ammunition to move up. The Broncos could also fit the bill, especially if Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci are still the top two quarterbacks on their roster on April 25’s first night of the draft.
If the Bears wait until the draft and still cannot find a trade partner for Fields, though, how much would their urgency to move him change?
Bears general manager Ryan Poles likely wants to put his hand-selected franchise quarterback in the best possible situation to start his career. He showed that when he traded for six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen this week. While competition can be a good thing, it is hard to imagine Poles welcoming the noise that would come with having both Fields and a rookie quarterback on the roster for training camp.
The problem is, if the Bears decide keeping Fields and a rookie on the roster together is untenable, it will likely make them more desperate to cut a deal for him. And if that is the case, they could be settling for compensation in the same range as what the New England Patriots got for fellow 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones — a sixth-round pick.
Justin Fields May Have to Settle for QB2 Role in 2024
Fields is in an unfortunate position with the Bears. He has shown flashes of being a competent NFL starter over his first three seasons in the league and is clearly a leader in their locker room beloved by his teammates, such as DJ Moore and Cole Kmet. It is worth wondering whether the Bears would be trying to move on from him at all if they did not hold the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
The reality, however, is that the Bears are likely going to move on from him in favor of resetting the quarterback clock with a talent the current front office chooses itself. And with how little interest Fields generated on the trade market, there is a good chance that Fields will have to settle for a No. 2 quarterback role during the 2024 season.
That’s not to say Fields cannot be a starter in the NFL. He seems more likely to earn a starting job in the future than either Jones or Desmond Ridder, whom the Falcons dealt to the Arizona Cardinals to back up Kyler Murray on March 14. Unless a team loses its starter to an injury, though, there are simply no starting jobs for him to try to earn.
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