With the Chicago Bears having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, they appear poised to draft USC QB Caleb Williams. Their imminent selection of Williams makes their current starting quarterback, Justin Fields expendable.
It appears a Fields trade is going to happen sooner rather than later, and rumors are swirling regarding a potential landing spot for the 2021 first-round pick. According to one NFL insider, however, the young quarterback doesn’t have a very robust market.
Insider Shares How ‘Robust’ the Market Is for Justin Fields
Appearing on The Athletic Football Show podcast, NFL Insider Dianna Russini provided some insight into the potential Fields suitors and the level of interest around the league.
“I’m chasing down Pittsburgh, Atlanta, I’m just thinking about every team that can use him and where it would make sense, where there’s offensive coordinators who have success with his type of ability. I can tell you … I don’t think the market is as robust as a lot of people thought,” Russini said.
Those words paint a picture of a dilemma that Fields, and even the Bears, are facing. The market may not be as high for the former first-rounder as originally thought.
And Bears general manager Ryan Poles has already told the media at the NFL Combine what kind of speed they want to move in regarding Fields’ future.
“Chicago has been very transparent. Ryan Poles shared with the media, ‘We don’t want to drag this thing out. We want to move on and go.’ Of course, they want to keep their cards close to the vest to build out some sort of leverage,” Russini said.
Insider Shares Why Fields Could Have a Slower Trade Market
While Fields has been heavily mentioned as a 2023 starter who could change his NFL address soon, he’s facing the prospect of competing with a potentially deep pool of free agents at his position.
The list of free-agent quarterbacks for the upcoming league year is a loaded one. Four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins is one name expected to command a big market and sits atop PFN’s free agent QB board. Baker Mayfield follows him as another with high intrigue following his strong 2023 campaign that saw him get the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into the NFC Divisional Round.
But there’s more. Gardner Minshew II is a free agent and fresh off a Pro Bowl nod after capably filling in for Anthony Richardson on the Indianapolis Colts this past season. Joe Flacco, who led the Cleveland Browns on a memorable late-season run that netted a playoff spot, is also on this list.
Fields isn’t the only QB that’s the subject of trade chatter. Russell Wilson could get moved or released — with PFN projecting that he, not Fields, ends up with the Atlanta Falcons as a trade asset in Wednesday’s mock draft.
Overall, Russini doesn’t believe the trade market will be an aggressive one for the incoming fourth-year QB out of Ohio State.
“I just don’t think there is a team right now that’s going to be aggressively chasing after Justin Fields knowing that the other free agent quarterbacks that are on the market right now that have had more success and maybe a better possibility than trading for Justin Fields,” Russini said.
KEEP READING: 2024 NFL Free Agency Predictions
Russini, however, doesn’t mean that Fields won’t get moved. It’s just that she doesn’t see a clear-cut favorite at the moment.
“Do I still think he’s going to get traded to a team? Yes,” she said. “But there’s no clear team that I’m hearing right now that makes sense and I’m hearing a lot of chatter about.”
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