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Who would want Justin Fields in a trade? What could the Bears get in return? Let’s dive in.
One of the biggest mysteries in the lead up to the 2024 NFL Draft is wondering what the Chicago Bears will do with the No. 1 pick. Now we might be drawing closer to an answer, and that involves trading Justin Fields.
In the modern equivalent of the canary in a coal mine, Fields unfollowed the Bears on social media — a ubiquitous predictor that change is coming. In this case it means Chicago drafting either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye with the top pick, moving forward with either as their franchise quarterback.
That leaves us with Fields on the trading block. An enigma of a player who at times has looked like heir apparent to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and other times looking like he barely belongs in the league. A victim of circumstance more than anything else, Fields has never truly jived with the coaching vision since being drafted by the Bears in 2021, and his play has suffered as a result.
That presents a unique opportunity for a QB-needy team: A chance to get a 24-year-old starter, with franchise player potential, and it will cost a fraction of the draft capital it would normally take to get a quarterback. With the likely asking cost being little more than a second round pick at this point, these are the teams who should really give Field some thought.
Atlanta Falcons
This is a rare opportunity for Atlanta to get a do-over. Their decision to take Kyle Pitts in the 2021 NFL Draft wasn’t a horrible one, but it was a bad move in the context of not having a quarterback.
Justin Field returns home in this scenario, with the Atlanta native getting to play in familiar territory. All the pieces are in place for the Falcons to take a big step forward. They were 7-10 a year ago because of their defense and host of offensive weapons, and adding Fields to the mix could really put that over the top. A potential mix of skill players including Fields, Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Pitts is potentially terrifying for the rest of the NFL — and for Fields simply being “better than Desmond Ridder” is a bar he can easily clear immediately.
The wild card for Atlanta is new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Robinson joins the Falcons from the Rams, where he has been his entire coaching career. There are some questions whether he’s a guy who can show the kind of offensive creativity needed to allow Fields to shine after operating on a team that used very static passers in Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford. This is Robinson’s first true opportunity to run the show on the offensive side of the ball, and if he can install a scheme that highlights Fields’ strengths this could be a very special fit.
Las Vegas Raiders
Everything the Raiders did last year went belly-up. Their decision to cut Derek Carr and sign Jimmy Garoppolo as a way to get over the hump only hurt them more, and now Jimmy G is facing a suspension for performance enhancing drugs — which could lead to the team parting ways with him.
The Raiders love flash and trading for Fields would be a very flashy move. When you add in the offensive talent in Vegas with Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams and Michael Mayer there might be something to this.
There’s one mammoth “but” here, and it’s offensive coordinator. New head coach Antonio Pierce decided to hire former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who showed absolutely no ability to devise an offense that clicked with Fields. Perhaps that changes with a better host of offensive weapons, but it could also be a primary reason a deal doesn’t happen.
The worst thing the Raiders could do is trade for Fields without a firm plan, and it’s difficult to see Getsy having a clear path forward that would work.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Are the Steelers ready to pull the plug on Kenny Pickett? They should be. Pickett was a horrendous reach in the first round of the quarterback-deprived 2022 NFL Draft, and he’s done everything to back up the perception that he wasn’t worth the pick.
Pickett’s either been hurt or ineffective since arriving, and was notable left to ride the pine when he returned from injury so Mason Rudolph could get a run. That leaves Pittsburgh in a position where it might be time to shake up the position.
This might seem too soon to make a change, but Fields is younger than Pickett already. It’s not a case of moving from a young player to an old one. Arthur Smith is also a fascinating addition to the Steelers as offensive coordinator, where he will be much better than he was as a head coach in Atlanta.
Smith has a tendency to be risk-averse, but part of that could have been a factor of pressure placed on him as a head coach. Back in a more familar OC role he might be willing to open it up more, and Pirrsburgh have two receivers who seem tailored to thrive with someone like Fields under center. Both Diontae Johnson and George Pickens are great deep-threat receivers who know how to get open, and Fields is a guy who can rip a good deep ball.
There’s a chance here for an offense to be forged that’s not dissimilar to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, where the run is used to pick up short gains — punctuated with home run plays. This could really be an amazing fit for everyone concerned.
Minnesota Vikings
Would the Chicago Bears trade Justin Fields inside the NFC North? Are the Vikings ready to move on from the Kirk Cousins era? These are the two questions looming over a potential deal, both of which make this seem like an outside shot to happen, at best.
That said, there’s some logic to the idea of bringing Fields to Minnesota. If you look at their roster construction right now there’s a tremendous amount of support for a quarterback, which begins by having the best receiver in the NFL in Justin Jefferson. Jefferson is a rare receiver talent who makes his quarterback better, and that is something Fields has sorely missed since arriving in the NFL.
There’s similar hesitation to the Falcons when it comes to building off a Sean McVay, “traditional passer” system with Kevin O’Connell and Wes Philips at the helm of the offense, both of whom cut their teeth with the Rams — but there’s something compelling here to think about.
Some of the best years the Vikings ever had came about because of big-armed quarterbacks like Randall Cunningham and Duante Culpepper making huge plays to Randy Moss. Fields isn’t like either of those guys, but kind of falls somewhere in the middle. There’s a chance here for a modernization of nostalgia in a way that could really win over fans.
This all assumes the team is prepared to let Cousins walk and make the switch. That’s easier said than done.
What could Chicago reasonably get in a trade?
That all depends on what the market looks like. There’s a very real chance here that we see a multi-team bidding war, provided teams believe enough in him. Make no mistake: It’s not going to push the offer into 1st round territory, but rather what ancillary picks Chicago gets on top of a 2024 2nd rounder, which seems to be a reasonable starting point for an offer. From there a 4th or 5th in addition seems reasonable.
If it’s a soft market, or teams aren’t sold on Fields over the third tier of quarterbacks in 2024 (Bo Nix and Michael Penix) we could see this fall to a conditional pick in the third or later, with play escalators which might bring it back up.
