Ranking Justin Fields landing spots with trade from Bears appearing likely
With Justin Fields increasingly likely to be traded, here are some of the best landing spots for him.
By John Buhler
After three years leading the Chicago Bears, it feels like a foregone conclusion that Justin Fields has played his last down for his current team. In most other situations, Fields would be greatly appreciated as a franchise quarterback on the rise. However, due to the Carolina Panthers' incompetence, the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Caleb Williams is a Bear!
But before the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner makes his way to the Midway, Ryan Poles will have to find a suitable trade partner to get Fields off his team. This needs to happen before the start of free agency in a few weeks because many of these teams desperate for a franchise quarterback will try to sign one before the draft. Chicago is trying to figure out the market for Fields, but it is a shrinking one.
Chicago may not garner the draft capital in exchange for Fields as the Bears would have hoped for. While he could have gone for a first-round pick only a few weeks ago, that might be closer to a second-round pick right now. Surely, the Bears have fielded offers for Fields, but it remains to be seen what teams will pull the trigger and execute this type of blockbuster trade. The clock is ticking...
Here are five potential candidates to trade for Fields, ranked in order of least likely to most likely.
5. New York Giants need to reboot, but they are an extreme dark horse
At this point, I have no idea what the New York Giants are doing honestly. Despite being the IBM of the NFL, the Giants have been a poorly run operation for well over a decade now. Yes, they have the two Super Bowl championships from the peak Eli Manning years. However, the Daniel Jones era has been more frustrating than a perpetual ice cream headache. Brian Daboll's looks like it is about to explode.
With the Giants picking at No. 6 in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, they could look at drafting a quarterback there. However, they may need to move up from No. 6 if they want to have a realistic shot at selecting someone like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye. They could also stand pat to reach on Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, as he should not be coming off the board until later.
From purely a fit standpoint, Fields could make it work playing for Daboll's G-Men. However, I don't think the Giants have the crashing sense of urgency to prioritize trading for Fields. They have other holes to fill on their roster. For as long as Jones is on their roster, it is hard to see the Giants investing heavily in multiple quarterbacks at the same time. 2024 will be such a critical year for this franchise.
At this time, we should only view the Giants as an extreme dark horse to possibly trade for Fields.