The general consensus is the Chicago Bears will trade quarterback Justin Fields this offseason, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson is well aware of that.
Johnson spoke about the situation this week and said that the team understands what is likely about to happen.
“We’ll all have our opinions, our emotions, but as far as the locker room staying together, I think we have the right guys in the locker room to keep everything together, to keep us together,” said Johnson, via Patrick Finley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “We know the business that we’re in. So I feel like it wouldn’t be mature of us as a locker room not to rally together in spite of having Justin leave.”
Johnson just re-signed with the Bears on a four-year deal.
Chicago owns the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft next month and is widely expected to take USC quarterback Caleb Williams. The chances of the Bears keeping both Fields and Williams on the roster seem slim to none, so Fields will almost certainly be moved. That’s assuming Chicago selects Williams, of course.
Fields is very well-liked in the Bears’ locker room, and there seem to even be people within the organization who would prefer to keep the youngster.
However, the 25-year-old’s three-year tenure in the Windy City has been largely defined by inconsistency, and even though he showed some flashes of brilliance in 2023, he didn’t display enough to warrant being labeled the club’s quarterback of the future—especially with the Bears having the top pick in the draft.
Fields made 13 starts this past season, missing four games due to a dislocated thumb. During the time he was on the field, he threw 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. He also rushed for 657 yards and four scores.
We’ll see what Chicago does with Justin Fields in the coming weeks.
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