It is being widely assumed that the Chicago Bears will be trading Justin Fields and then taking a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in this spring’s NFL Draft.
However, people may be counting their chickens before the eggs hatch.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles was asked whether or not there was a possibility of the team keeping Fields and still drafting a signal-caller, and he didn’t dismiss it.
“My brain has gone crazy all year, just about the million different scenarios, but I’m sure that’s one of them,” Poles said, via the Bears’ official YouTube account. “I’ll just stay very wide open with the different paths that we can go and, as we collect information, if that closes some of those pathways down, then we’ll move to the other ones, but I’m going to be wide open with this.”
Of course, this could just be Poles refusing to show his hand. Surely, he does not want to lose any leverage in potential trade discussions, and if he said that he didn’t intend to keep Fields if the team drafted a quarterback, it would torpedo Fields’ trade value.
That being said, the idea of Chicago keeping Fields does seem to be gaining some momentum, as some are predicting that the Bears will roll with Fields and trade the No. 1 pick.
Fields’ NFL career has been largely defined by inconsistency, but he displayed flashes of brilliance in 2023 and apparently won over some people in Chicago’s organization. The players also seem to love Fields.
The 24-year-old played in 13 games this season, throwing for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 61.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.3. In addition, he rushed for 657 yards and four scores. He missed four contests due to a dislocated thumb.
Justin Fields and the Bears began the year 0-4, but went 7-6 the rest of the way to finish 7-10.
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