The Simple Answer is Yes, Here's Why
While Fields has improved throughout the season, Bears fans must remember that they wanted him gone earlier this year. Fileds has been nothing but a losing quarterback over the past three years. Even though he has looked promising at times, trading him would be better than keeping him. If the Bears decide to support him and he becomes a top 20 to 12 quarterback, they would destroy their Super Bowl window chance. The Chicago Sun-Times has proved that extending a nonstop eight-quarterback closes a team’s Super Bowl window. Adding a younger quarterback who may be nothing more than a top-15 can still put a team into a Super Bowl window. We have seen this with the 49ers. What the 49ers have with Purdy is a guy on a cheap four-year deal that allows them to spend tons of money on skilled positions and linemen. So if the Bears can take a guy like Caleb Willams or Drake Maye with the 1st overall pick via the Panthers, they will have extra money to spend on every other position than quarterback. If the Bears keep Fields, they could get stuck giving him 40 million a year like the Giants did when they gave Daniel Jones a 4-year 160 million, 160-million-dollar contract; that has turned out to be a horrible move. It’s not worth keeping Fields for a 4th year.
Lets Talk about what the Bears could get for Fields
The quarterback market this year is nothing but the draft. Teams that could look to trade with the Bears for Fields could be the Falcons, Saints, Buccaneers, Patriots, Seahawks, Rams, and many more. While the 1st and 2nd overall pick will likely be a QB, this would take two teams out of the teams wanting to change the position. If the Bears decide they want to take a QB, then you have only the 2nd overall pick available for trade, but it looks more and more like the Patriots or whatever other team lands that pick will take either Maye or Willams, whichever one of them is not picked with the 1st pick. There are 3 to 5 other quarterbacks who are potential 1st round talents, and that is if all of them declare. Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix, and Bo Nix are defenits for declaring for the draft. Quinn Ewers and Jj McCarthy have one to two years of eligibility. It looks as of right now that one if not both, declare for the draft, but it could also pan out where they want to stay another year in college and raise their draft stock. Quinn Ewers is exciting because he is the number-rated quarterback recruit from high school for his recruitment class.
Bouncing around a few power five colleges and starting for Texas, he has led his team to the college football playoffs. It was believed earlier in the year that if he played well all season, he could be a potential top-10 pick. With him missing time mid-way through the year, he only got to put part of the season together to show that all off. He could benefit from playing in the college football playoffs or staying another year at Texas. It’s hard to say what he and J.J. McCarthy do, as both could wait another year. So, let’s assume one enters the draft. There are then six 1st round-caliber guys, and at least four will be picked in the 1st round. If one of the 8ish teams does not think they have a shot at one of the top 3 guys in this draft, they could trade for Fields. Fields would be worth a 1st round pick, and whoever wins the NFC South would be the prime candidate to sell for Fields, especially if it’s the Falcons, who run the ball well and could do dual-threat quarterback work in their offense. I’ll review trade packages later in the offseason for Fields based on where teams land in the 1st round. Expect the Bears to get a 1st or multiple-day two picks for him.
Who would the Bears then draft in the 1st Round?
The 1st pick would likely be Caleb Willams, although you could make a case for Drake Maye. I would come down to who the new head coach and Ryan Poles like the most at the end of the day. Both are believed to be better prospects than any of the quarterbacks in last year’s draft, which was headlined by guys like CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis. Three of those guys have looked great for franchise-changing picks, so both these guys and the Bears will likely take good options. With the Bear’s next pick, expect them to take a Wider Receiver or an Edge Rusher. Although if I were the GM of the Bears, I would trade back if they wanted to take a receiver, this has the potential to be the best comprehensive receiver draft of all time. If they change back, they could have guys like Rome Odunze, Malik Nabers, Keon Coleman, and many others fall out of the top 10. Even one of the better edge rushers in the draft could fall. This would allow them to take an edge rusher like Chop Robinson, Laiatu Latu, Jared Verse, and Dallas Turner. Even Brock Bowers could fail, and it could be intriguing to pair the best tight-end prospect since Kyle Pitts with Cole Kmet. If you end up trading Fields for a late first, you could land another corner like Kalen King, Copper DeJean, or Josh Newton. This would allow the Bears to land 2 to 3 starters in the 1st round, and they could do well in the rest of the draft at positions like wide receiver, corner, and safety.
