What Happens With Justin Fields Now?

When it became clear about a month ago that the Chicago Bears were going to take Caleb Williams with the top overall pick in the draft and trade Justin Fields, nobody was all that surprised. The Bears didn't come outright and say it but the combination of GM Ryan Poles' media appearances and insider reports all pointed to the same conclusion. And that conclusion made sense, for the same reasons that you've been reading about for over two months now.

It did feel like the beginning of free agency was an unofficial deadline for the Bears to move Fields, though. Free agency answers a lot of questions for teams across the NFL and Chicago's best chance at a good deal for their former first-round pick was to capitalize when those questions were still unanswered. What a "good deal" amounts to is in the eye of the beholder but most discussion surrounding potential trades suggested a third-round pick for Fields would make the Bears happy and they could get a higher pick if they played their cards right.

Well, free agency opened on Monday and a bunch of deals were struck that will become official on March 13. Fields is still a Bear. And the options for Chicago have dwindled dramatically.

On this here website I wrote two different trade destinations posts for Fields, naming the following six teams as possible candidates-- the Patriots, the Steelers, the Vikings, the Broncos, the Falcons, and the Rams. Four of those six teams signed a quarterback over the last few days. Minnesota lost Kirk Cousins to Atlanta and immediately turned to Sam Darnold, New England brought back Jacoby Brissett, and Pittsburgh signed Russell Wilson. The Raiders were also linked to Fields and ended up going with Gardner Minshew instead.

Just signing quarterbacks doesn't automatically eliminate a team as a potential landing spot for Fields (except for the Falcons, who are not giving up draft capital after giving Cousins $100 million) but it sure does make it far less likely. Those teams will now feel they are operating from a position of strength and will do everything they can to force a bargain deal with the Bears. Chicago, naturally, will be loathe to do so and thus a deal with any of those sides probably won't happen.

Which leaves the Broncos as the last team in the NFL who really need a quarterback. There are a couple of teams like the Rams who would be interested in taking a flyer on Fields if it cost them very little. But it does not seem like the Bears are going to flip the former Ohio State quarterback for a pittance, which means their options are now limited to Denver and that is it. Which isn't an ideal position because the Broncos also know they're Chicago's last hope and thus gain an upper hand in negotiations. Plus I'm sure the franchise isn't super eager to pull off another trade for a quarterback after the Wilson debacle.

The Bears are just about out of time. If they don't get a trade done by Wednesday, when free agency "officially" opens, then they'll probably just wait until the draft. That will be their next best (and last) chance to get something reasonable in exchange for Fields. If a team misses out on their desired QB project on Day 3 then maybe they're willing to part with a higher 2025 pick to kick the tires on Fields. Maybe not. But it'll be worth waiting to see instead of giving up and sending out Fields in a few days for a sixth-rounder.

We all thought Fields would be gone by now. Since he isn't, though, we shouldn't be surprised if he stays a Bear for a while yet. Chicago has to show potential trade partners they aren't in any rush, otherwise they will get the short end of a deal. In other words, the Fields trade saga is not over yet.