The Chicago Bears made it quite clear in recent weeks that they were zeroing in on Caleb Williams with the first pick in the upcoming draft, which meant quarterback Justin Fields was likely on his way out of town.
Moving Fields proved to be more difficult than many thought, as the QB carousel around the league moved quickly and even backup QBs were being moved left and right and leaving very few open landing spots.
The Bears finally moved Fields to the Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick, and Courtney Cronin of ESPN has reported that there were actually five teams that reached out to gauge Chicago’s interest in moving Fields.
Some context to add here from my reporting: In addition to Pittsburgh, there were 5 teams that reached out to the Bears to gauge their interest on a Fields trade, but the majority of those teams envisioned Fields as a backup. Chicago wanted to use the parameters of the Sam… https://t.co/IplzTxwJeT
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) March 17, 2024
Cronin said that most of the teams that reached out saw Fields as a backup and that the Bears envisioned this deal resembling the Sam Darnold trade of a few years ago that netted the Jets a 2nd, a 4th, and a 6th-round pick in the draft.
It became clear pretty quickly that the Bears weren’t going to get nearly that much for Fields.
We don’t know who the teams are that contacted Chicago, but if you connect the dots, it seems like a fair assumption that at least some of those teams were the ones who very recently made moves for backup quarterbacks.
Some recent backup QB moves were the Eagles trading for Kenny Pickett, the Seahawks trading for Sam Howell, the Patriots signing Jacoby Brissett, the Commanders signing Marcus Mariota, the Giants signing Drew Lock, the Vikings signing Sam Darnold, and the Titans signing Mason Rudolph.
Hopefully, Fields can learn a thing or two from Russell Wilson and become a true franchise QB when he gets a chance to start again.
NEXT: Justin Fields Sends Message To Fans After Trade