Insider Believes Latest Chicago Bears Rumor Is A Smokescreen

The Chicago Bears will be surrounded by rumors for the next three months until the NFL draft arrives. That comes with the territory of holding the #1 pick. Everything that unfolds throughout the pivotal three-day event will be started by what they do at that spot. Last year, they became only the third team to trade the pick since the new millennium. This time, it appears the entire football world is convinced they're staying put to take a quarterback. Presumably, Caleb Williams. If that is true, it creates the question of what they do with Justin Fields.

Logic dictates they trade him to the highest bidder. He's sure to have a decent market for his services. However, Adam Schefter of ESPN delivered a slight surprise before the Super Bowl when he revealed the Bears had conversations about potentially keeping Fields for another year even if they did draft a quarterback. The idea would be using him in the Alex Smith role, giving Williams or whoever a chance to learn the offense from the sideline for a year and likely start in 2025. While possible, Albert Breer of the MMQB stated he doesn't think it plays out that way.

If anything, Schefter's revelation was likely a diversionary tactic.

"The idea of keeping Justin Fields in Chicago, even if the Bears drafted a quarterback with the first pick (which ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested Sunday), is an intriguing idea that the team has discussed. It’s doable, too, because Fields is only due $3.2 million in cash for 2024, a number that’s manageable even for a backup at the position, relative to the market.

That said, most teams try to avoid any sort of awkwardness in the quarterback room if they’re drafting a young one. And while Fields is a really good person, it would naturally be weird for a No. 1 pick to have a player the team traded up to take at 11th sitting next to him. So my guess would be, again, Fields gets traded.

(Also, it behooves the Bears to have potential suitors for Fields think they’d actually consider keeping him.)"

The Chicago Bears owe it to Fields to trade him.

While the idea of keeping him has some logic, they proved in 2020 and 2021 that they struggle to handle awkward quarterback situations. The Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles situation led to lots of confusion. It was the same with Fields and Andy Dalton. What made the Smith situation work was he had years of experience in the Chiefs' offense by that point in 2017. He could start and be relatively assured to keep things stable. That wouldn't be the case in Chicago because they just changed offensive coordinators, bringing in Shane Waldron. Fields is unlikely to execute the system any better than he did Luke Getsy's last year.

Besides, after what the poor guy endured during the ugly transition the past two years, he's earned a fresh start somewhere else. The Chicago Bears should trade him, get a couple of solid draft picks in return, and move on with their new guy. Give Williams or whoever they pick a clear runway to the starting job. No controversies. No distractions. That said, Ryan Poles has every reason to make other teams at least think he might keep Fields. It might compel them to improve their trade offers for him.