Report: Bears Trading Justin Fields Soon, Falcons Landing Spot?
The Atlanta Falcons have been mentioned in trade rumors surrounding Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields for essentially the entire offseason, and finally, a resolution seems to be in sight.
As arguably the top quarterback on the trade market this offseason, Fields' name unsurprisingly came up often at the NFL Scouting Combine last week. After all, Chicago is very likely to use the first overall pick on a new quarterback, probably USC's Caleb Williams, so the Bears getting their best look yet at the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner would naturally ramp up speculation.
With the fast-paced league that is the NFL, SI's Albert Breer predicts that the Bears will have to deal Fields sooner rather than later.
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"In an ideal world, the Bears would be able to go through a complete process in assessing this year’s quarterback class before deciding what to do with Justin Fields," Breer wrote. "Alas, the world Chicago is living in now isn’t such an ideal one. Simply put, it’s not practical for Chicago to wait until mid-April, when the spots available for veteran quarterbacks across the league have filled up, to trade Fields.
"It wouldn’t allow for the Bears to maximize Fields’s value. It also wouldn’t be doing right by Fields, which is what Chicago GM Ryan Poles told the media he wants to do."
Even though the Bears may have their hand forced in terms of timing, they aren't going to just accept a box of scraps for the 2021 first-round pick. Other quarterbacks in similar situations have netted their teams solid returns before, so Chicago is more than comfortable with waiting just a bit longer to find the right package.
Regardless, it seems that this exhaustive saga may finally be nearing its end.
"But either way, the main thing here isn’t what the return—based on what’s been ballparked to me over the past couple of months, a package of a Day 2 pick and a Day 3 pick would make sense—winds up being," Breer wrote. "It’s the decision that’s coming down the pike for the Bears.
"A decision that, yes, could be made pretty soon."
