Bears’ Justin Fields ‘not trying to have football’ distract him amid trade talks By: Grant Winsauer

Quarterback Justin Fields appeared on “The 33 rd Team” podcast Wednesday and cleared the air about unfollowing the Chicago Bears on social media. Fields said despite the rumblings of his future with the Bears being uncertain, the former Ohio State quarterback felt his presence about his current mindset, which needs a reset.

“I’m not trying to have football on my timeline,” Fields said. The Bears are in this position to take a quarterback, most likely because they traded with the Panthers last off-season. They traded the No. 1 overall pick for two first-round picks, a 2025 second-round pick, and then wideout D.J. Moore.

It is believed that the Bears will trade Fields because, in his three years in the NFL, he has not surpassed 3,000 passing yards. That is not his fault, as he was adjusting to the NFL as a rookie. During his second year, he had a new head coach, had to learn a new system, and was given an offensive coordinator with no play-calling experience. Experts thought he would flourish during his third year because he knew the system and got some new weapons, but Luke Getsy never played to Fields’ strengths.

Now, drafting Caleb Williams makes sense for a few reasons.

First, it resets the quarterback clock so you can build around Williams for five years.

Shane Waldron is very good at getting the best out of his quarterback. He helped veteran Geno Smith win Comeback Player of the Year two years ago. If the Bears decide to take Williams, they won’t have to worry about at least 30 percent of their salary cap getting eaten by the quarterback, given Fields’ current contract. This way, while Williams is on his rookie deal, you can build up the team for the next five years, have your franchise quarterback win a Super Bowl, and then have your quarterback figured out for 10+ years. Fields wants to remain a Chicago Bear if it were up to him, he said. Fields also started following running back Bijan Robinson, tight end Kyle Pitts, and running back Drake London on Instagram, which could spell trouble if the Bears want to keep him. When asked about possibly playing in Atlanta, Fields was complimentary of the franchise. “Atlanta would be tough… I think they got a lot of playmakers on that team. Bijan, my boy Kyle Pitts, and, of course, Drake London.”

If the Falcons were to trade for Fields, it would see him reunite with his hometown team. The Falcons are a run-first offense, one of Fields’ most significant strengths. Over 1,000 rushing yards came from Fields in 2022 because he didn’t have much help on offense weapon-wise. If Fields were to go to Atlanta, he would have a great trio of targets. If the Falcons added one more wideout, he would have a potent offense to find potential success in 2024.