One way or another, it appears that the Justin Fields saga could be nearing a conclusion.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, during an appearance on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago Friday morning, there is some urgency on the Bears and GM Ryan Poles’ part to get a deal done regarding Fields, and the structure of that deal could come together quickly at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis next week.
Ben Devine, an NFL reporter in Chicago, tweeted Breer’s comments earlier Friday morning.
The comments from Breer make sense. The combine is a major hub of the NFL world, from GMs to player agents, making it easy to have conversations with teams, often leading to business. More often than not, that’s where we see quite a bit happening.
In Fields’ case, that could happen next week, which would be good news for the young quarterback one way or another. During an appearance on the St. Brown podcast with Detroit wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Chicago wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, Fields stated that whatever happens, he just wants it to happen so that he can move on in his career, whether that’s staying with the Bears — which he stated he wants to do — or getting a fresh start elsewhere.
The Steelers have been a popular team tied to Fields as have the Atlanta Falcons. Other teams, such as the New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders, have emerged in recent weeks as potential landing spots, creating suitors for the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Ohio State.
Earlier this week, ESPN’s Field Yates created a hypothetical trade package for Fields to land in Pittsburgh. In Yates’ proposal, the Steelers would send a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Bears for Fields. Though that seems a bit rich initially, it could be a similar package that the New York Jets netted for sending quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers in April 2021.
Darnold was in the same contractual situation as Fields is now, having one year and then the fifth-year option still available. Fields’ fifth-year option would guarantee him nearly $22 million for 2025 and would need to be picked up by May 2 should a team that trades for him want to do that.
All 32 GMs are expected to be at the combine in Indianapolis next week, so Poles and the Bears could move quickly and get the structure of a deal in place. There should be some urgency for Poles when it comes to deciding what to do with Fields. Free agency is just around the corner and the Bears are in the process of preparing for the No. 1 pick, which should realistically be USC quarterback Caleb Williams, potentially starting a new era in Chicago.
