After a cold trade market in 2024, Justin Fields could have plenty of suitors come 2025. A pending free agent and current backup to Russell Wilson, Fields’ next NFL start might come with his next NFL team. If Wilson keeps playing well and secures a long-term deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, something that’s not a given but trending toward occurring, Fields will likely explore the chance to start elsewhere. That “elsewhere” could be Justin Fields with the Carolina Panthers.
According to Panthers beat writer Joseph Person, he can see Fields being brought in this offseason to, at the least, serve as a stopgap for a blue-chip rookie.
“The Panthers could draft Cam Ward, who’s starring for GM Dan Morgan’s alma mater, and bring in someone like Justin Fields as a bridge,” Person wrote for The Athletic.
It’s early and the premise of the article was more dot-connecting and speculating than true reporting. Person even mentioned Russell Wilson’s connections to Panthers head coach Dave Canales, who served as Wilson’s offensive coordinator for the final few years of his time in Seattle.
But Wilson might not hit the market. Fields is younger, cheaper, and more athletic. After flaming out in Chicago, partially due to organizational and structural issues he had no control over, the Bears had a hard time finding any takers in trade talks.
Despite initial speculation that Fields could fetch a high draft pick, no team viewed him as a starter. Not even the Steelers, who only dealt for Fields after QB Kenny Pickett requested and received his trade out of Pittsburgh. Needing a backup, Pittsburgh sent a 2025 conditional sixth round pick to Chicago, a selection that becomes a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 50 percent of the offense’s snaps this season. If Wilson starts the rest of the season, Fields will fall below that mark.
The 2025 dynamics are different. Fields has played better and more consistent ball in Pittsburgh than he did in Chicago. His biggest criticism was volatility and turnovers, and he has avoided those with the Steelers, throwing just one pick in six starts. Though his play waned in later weeks and he was ultimately replaced by Wilson, Fields is likely to inspire more confidence in other organizations.
It’s a situation similar to another ex-Bears quarterback in Mitch Trubisky, who rehabbed his value in one year as Josh Allen’s top backup in Buffalo to become the Steelers’ 2022 starter. A situation that didn’t end well with Trubisky ultimately returning to the Bills as Allen’s understudy, but a similar scenario could play out.
A weaker quarterback class in free agency could also increase the value of someone like Fields. ESPN’s recent top-25 list only included two of them in Minnesota’s Sam Darnold and Fields.
Carolina’s quarterback situation is cloudy. Bryce Young has played better in his return to the lineup after being benched two weeks into the 2024 season. But Canales wasn’t part of the regime that drafted him and it’s hard to be all-in on a player who has struggled and been benched once already. Young still has more interceptions (16) than touchdown passes (15) in 21 career starts. History says his career won’t turn around with Young becoming a franchise quarterback.
While the Panthers are a bad team, their 3-7 record isn’t the NFL’s worst, and they currently hold the ninth pick in the draft. Without trading up, they may miss out on the top quarterbacks in this year’s class, one that isn’t as deep as in 2024. There’s every reason to believe they’ll be in the market for a free agent to protect themselves against being frozen out of a rookie. And after Young’s struggles, even if they draft a rookie, they may want him to sit and learn rather than be thrust into the lineup.
All of this is fodder and won’t matter until closer to March. But it’s a worthwhile nugget for Person to point to Fields. If not Carolina, Fields will probably have other teams calling his agent this offseason after ignoring the Bears’ calls a year ago.
