The Chicago Bears have an interesting dilemma on paper.
Armed with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft because of a fortuitous trade with the Carolina Panthers last March, Chicago has the option of starting over at quarterback with someone like Southern California’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
This, of course, puts Justin Fields in a bind. He addressed this conversation in the latest episode of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Equanimeous St. Brown’s podcast with The 33rd Team. When asked for his thoughts on any Bears trade talks involving him, Fields clarified that he’s unbothered by the prospect. The fourth-year quarterback maintained he wants to stay with Chicago but understands this decision is rooted in standard NFL business practice.
Still, he wants clarity on his future sooner rather than later.
More Fields from The 33rd Team:
“If it was up to me, I would want to stay in Chicago,” Fields said. “The city is lit, the fans are great … but it’s a business. I ain’t got no control over it. Whatever happens, happens. I feel like the biggest thing going on with this right now is I just want it to be over. Just let me know if I’m getting traded, let me know I’m staying …”
As for potential fits outside of Chicago, the St. Brown brothers pressed Fields on his feelings about potentially playing for the Falcons. Ultimately, the Georgia native seemed very open to the idea, save for one unfortunate con of coming back home to play in Atlanta:
“Atlanta would be tough,” Fields said. “The only con of going back home is just people hitting up my phone crazy, you know, wanting tickets to the game. I think they’ve got a lot of playmakers on the team … they probably need one more receiver, but they’ve definitely got some guys over there.”
The 2024 NFL Draft is roughly two months away. Theoretically, Fields’ future might not be decided until then. But free agency and a new NFL league year begins next month. If a new team wants to give Fields more time getting acclimated to their daily operations, it’d make much more sense to execute a trade in the coming weeks as opposed to late April.
Whatever happens with Fields and his future in Chicago, he’ll likely get his wish for clarity very soon.
