5 NFL teams that are one Justin Fields away from making a playoff run
By John Buhler
When the Chicago Bears traded up to get Justin Fields No. 11 out of Ohio State in 2021, their fanbase believed their beloved team drafted a franchise savior. While Fields has certainly had his moments under center, the Bears continue to be the Bears, an antiquated football franchise, forever stuck in 1985. Fields has been poorly coached throughout, but you have to wonder if he can be salvaged.
Fields was a former five-star coming out of high school. The Kennesaw native initially played in-state for Georgia before transferring to Ohio State. He lit it up in the Big Ten for Ryan Day in Columbus for two years before turning pro. His skill set has sort of translated to success in the NFL, but it is hard to tell because of how consistently bad of a product the Bears routinely put around him. It is not great.
With a fifth-year option available to him this offseason, Fields could be a building block in Chicago going forward, or could be dumped to another franchise in desperate need of a quarterback. That would free up Chicago to draft one of the many blue-chip quarterbacks entering the draft, whether that be Caleb Williams out of USC, Drake Maye out of North Carolina, or somebody else entirely...
Here are five NFL teams who could be a Fields away from making the playoffs next football season.
5 NFL teams who are one Justin Fields away from making the playoffs
5. Las Vegas Raiders could be in play, but will need a new head coach, too
I don't know how close the Las Vegas Raiders are to being a playoff team, but I think with the right head coach coming in that it could work with Fields. Jimmy Garoppolo is too injury-prone to be trusted as a franchise quarterback anymore. While Aidan O'Connell has shown signs of promise, he does not have a high ceiling. That is why I would consider bringing in Fields if I were the Raiders.
Of the three head-coaching vacancies, I feel that the Raiders is the best job. The Los Angeles Chargers are in salary cap hell and the Carolina Panthers are owned by David Tepper. Although the Raiders have their whole mess of issues, someone like a Jim Harbaugh or another offensive-minded head coach could make it work with Fields in Las Vegas. There are pieces for him to be successful.
Besides a better opportunity than what Chicago might be able to provide him, playing inside is a huge plus for Fields on the Raiders. The fact that the Silver and Black play in the opposite conference of the Bears makes a trade a bit easier to work out. Then again, the Bears had no problems trading away the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers for essentially the draft rights to Bryce Young last year.
The Raiders are going to look vastly different than this year's team, so maybe Fields is a part of it?