Getty Image / John Fisher
The Chicago Bears arguably had more important decisions to make this offseason than any other NFL team. With the league’s most draft capital and plenty of cap space, it is potentially a transformational offseason for the franchise.
The biggest choice they have to make revolves around their quarterback situation and what they are going to do with current starter Justin Fields. As Fields enters his fourth season, they have to decide whether to extend him and bet that his high upside starts to show itself, or move on from the 2021 first-round pick.
It seems increasingly likely that the Chicago Bears will use the first-overall pick they have the rights to due to a trade with Carolina for last year’s first-overall pick to take a quarterback.
That means, they will likely be trading Justin Fields this offseason. But, in a span of a few hours, a few of their top options for finding a spot for Justin Fields and getting valuable draft compensation back from found quarterbacks.
The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to a deal with Russell Wilson after he was released from the Broncos last week. That took them off the board for a quarterback for next year.
Then, the Atlanta Falcons, a team that many thought made a lot of sense when it came to Justin Fields, signed Kirk Cousins to a monster contract as well.
Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Gardner Minshew, who filled in admirably for Anthony Richardson with the Colts last year.
It seems like other quarterback-needy teams like the Vikings, Patriots, and Commanders are now going to focus their attention to the NFL Draft. It’s unlikely that the Bears could pit two teams against each other in a bidding war against each other for Fields’ services. Such a bidding war could’ve meant the Bears received draft compensation as high as a second-rounder back. Now, they may be looking to get anything they can for Justin Fields.