The Chicago Bears haven’t publicly revealed whether they will keep quarterback Justin Fields or trade him and build around the No. 1 pick this offseason. If general manager Ryan Pace decides to trade FIelds, which NFL teams expect, he could receive a fairly strong return for the young signal-caller.
The Bears have kept their cards close to their vest, not even providing a hint as to what they will do with Fields. Recent NFL rumors have even suggested Chicago could keep Fields and use the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on a quarterback.
Related: Chicago Bears mock draft 2024
However, despite the public deception, a majority of the league believes the Bears’ decision with the No. 1 pick is already made and the franchise is prepared to draft around a rookie quarterback. If that’s the case, we might now have a better idea of what the Bears will receive in exchange for Fields.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Bears will likely receive an early Day 2 pick and a Day 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in exchange for Fields.
The compensation would likely start at a 2024 second-round pick, with the range of the selection depending on the interested team. The New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers have all been mentioned as potential landing spots, but New England and Atlanta have top-10 picks whereas Pittsburgh is in the back third of the draft order.
- Justin Fields stats 2023: 86.3 QB rating, 61.4 percent completion rate, 16-9 TD-INT, 2,562 passing yards, 657 rushing yards, 5.3 yards per carry, 4 rushing touchdowns in 13 games
Related: Chicago Bears draft picks 2024
If the Falcons and Steelers both wanted Fields and offered second-round picks, Chicago would likely require additional compensation from Pittsburgh (51st overall) to account for the difference between the Falcons’ second-round selection (43rd overall), meaning the Steelers would either need to move a much higher pick than Atlanta on Day 3 or include a third-round pick in 2025.
- Justin Fields contract: $6.004 million cap hit in 2024, fifth-year option for 2025
While a package of second- and late-round picks for Fields might not seem like a fair return for the former 11th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, contract and money play a significant part in this. Any team acquiring Fields would only have the one-year benefit of his contract being very cap-friendly. If the acquiring team exercises his fifth-year option, it would be paying him more than $25 million guaranteed in 2025 with all of that counting against the NFL salary cap.
