NFL Rumors: Bears received inquiries from teams for Justin Fields at Senior Bowl

The Chicago Bears have not experienced quarterback stability since Sid Luckman helped head coach George Halas revolutionize the passing game in the 1940s. Once again, the Bears are at a quarterback crossroads. Their decision on the future of quarterback Justin Fields presents a complex dilemma that will determine the fate of a franchise that has been in hibernation for far too long.

By courtesy of the Carolina Panthers, the Bears have the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for the second consecutive year. The coveted pick grants the Bears the opportunity to select USC quarterback Caleb Williams, the most recent rendition of "The Next Peyton Manning."

Should the Bears keep Fields and trade the No. 1 overall pick? Or should they keep the No. 1 overall pick and trade Fields? That's the quarterback conundrum that looms over Chicago this offseason.

Teams express interest for Justin Fields as decision looms over Chicago Bears

General manager Ryan Poles likely received some useful insight during the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. While the Bears haven't been actively shopping Fields, Chicago staffers reportedly received some inquiries from other teams, per TheMMQB's Albert Breer.

With the 2024 NFL Draft approaching, the clock is ticking. The Bears are expected to meet over the next couple of days to finalize their plans prior to the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.

The argument for Justin Fields

Three seasons and 38 starts into his professional career, Fields has often appeared to be tantalizingly close to a breakthrough. The former first-round pick has displayed athletic talent and leadership qualities, though both have been sporadic.

Still, there's no guarantee that Caleb Williams will be any better. After all, Chicago inherited the No. 1 overall pick because of how bad Panthers quarterback Bryce Young looked this year. Just a year ago, he was being called the Steph Curry of football. Pre-draft hype doesn't always translate to post-draft success, and often times, it translates to much worse production than what Justin Fields has displayed.

As discussed in FanSided's The Fifth Down column, the NFL has a problem with patience. Far too often, players are given a short leash to adjust to the speed and complexity of professional football. Consider Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen displayed raw talent in the early years of his career, before finally breaking through and becoming the dynamic quarterback he is today. If Buffalo had given up on him sooner, both Allen and the Bills would have suffered from a lack of continuity.

No rookie quarterback in recent history has landed in a better spot than Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Fields did not inherit a playoff team with two Hall of Fame weapons, a Hall of Fame head coach and a dynamic running back. He has endured through a roster teardown and organizational changes that included a new team president, general manager, head coach and coordinator. Still, the Bears have made strides with Fields at the helm. If Chicago had taken Mahomes, how would he be perceived today? It would likely look similar to Super Bowl LV, where poor offensive line play was compounded with poor decision-making from a flustered quarterback.

The argument against Justin Fields

Still, that doesn't mean Fields would suddenly be Mahomes if he were on the Chiefs. While the organizational stability and talent around him hasn't been great, Fields has been far from perfect himself.

Heading into the 2023 NFL season, the narrative surrounding Fields was optimistic. Chicago had spent the offseason upgrading their entire offense — from play caller to offensive line to running back — and they traded for a dynamic wide receiver in D.J. Moore. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky even predicted Fields would have an MVP-caliber season. Still, Orlovsky refused to pin the blame on Fields following Chicago’s blowout loss in Week 3. Instead, Orlovsky deferred blame onto the play calling and offensive line.

Here's a question that FanSided posed in September: How many offensive linemen must be dragged through the proverbial mud before it's accepted that Fields is getting sacked because he can’t process the field quickly enough? At the time, 79 of his 104 sacks had come with at least four seconds to throw. Fields finished the 2023 NFL season with 44 sacks, and it's hard to imagine all of those can be pinned on the offensive line.

When a quarterback can't process the field and holds onto the ball too long, it doesn't matter how much talent is placed around him.

"He still leaves too many throws on the field," Greg Cosell said on the Ross Tucker Podcast. "He doesn't consistently see it or process it with the needed clarity and speed. ... He's got a little bit of an elongated delivery that at times makes him a beat late with throws that demand precise timing. So he's an interesting quarterback because the special plays are special, but too many routine ones are missed."

Most questions in the NFL can be answered by following the money, and this situation is no different. Drafting Williams would mean that Chicago could reset the clock on having a quarterback on a rookie contract for four years.

Fields is also entering the final year of his rookie contract, but a fifth-year option can be exercised before May 2. He has a low cap hit of $6 million for the 2024 NFL season, but the fully guaranteed fifth-year option is projected to be worth roughly $22 million. Fields' projected market value is a six-year contract worth up to $283.1 million, per Spotrac. That would be a lot to invest in a quarterback that has won just ten games during his three years in the league. 

While Fields could show improvement, he has already shown enough reasons to doubt that improvement will ever make him a championship-caliber player. By trading Fields, Chicago could stockpile an arsenal of draft picks to go along with the No. 1 and No. 8 overall picks already in their possession. With young talent and the cap space spaced by rookie contracts, Poles would be in a good position to start building the roster around a rookie quarterback.