The Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield reason Bears may wait to trade Justin Fields

Heading into the NFL Scouting Combine, it seemed as though the big question surrounding the Chicago Bears was if they planned to trade quarterback Justin Fields. Now, as the Combine comes to a close, that is no longer the question being asked in NFL circles. The wide-spread assumption is that the Bears will indeed move Fields, likely for a pair of picks, one in the 2nd or 3rd round range and another in the 5th or 6th round range, and then use the 1st overall pick in the Draft to select Caleb Williams. But that just provides an answer to an outdated question. What remains is a two-pronged inquiry that perhaps only Ryan Poles knows the answer to: Who will the Bears trade Justin Fields to, and when will it happen?

“While Poles has positioned the Bears to trade Fields in the coming days, he’s also open to waiting a bit if it takes time for the QB market, with Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield as headliners, to develop,” according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “The key is the team has flexibility; Chicago will be realistic in finding the right return for the 11th pick in the 2021 draft.”

The right return for Ryan Poles and the Bears is one that may not materialize until Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield, the top two quarterbacks on the open market, sign their next deals. Being patient would allow Poles to gather more data while giving the quarterback carousel a chance to slow down. No matter where it is that Cousins and Mayfield end up signing, whether they remain with Minnesota and Tampa Bay respectively or both sign elsewhere, the Bears hold all of the cards at that point. Poles would be able to see the entire landscape of the league, know who truly is in need of a quarterback ahead of 2024, and then capitalize, finding a landing spot for Fields that would both benefit the immediate and long-term future of the Bears while potentially doing right by Justin Fields, which is something Poles has indicated he wanted to do.

So that provides a little bit of clarity of the first prong of this potentially franchise-defining question. But what about the second prong?

“Fields’s contract certainly complicates the matter,” writes Breer. “A trading team would get him for $2.3 million this year, but would have to make a decision in May on his $25.7 million option for 2025, knowing declining it and getting a good year from Fields would make him more expensive to keep in a year. And as for potential teams, the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers have at least explored it.”

The Falcons and Steelers have separated themselves from the rest of the pack — at least for the time being — as the most likely Fields destinations, but I wouldn't necessarily rule out New England or Las Vegas getting in the mix either. But again, for the Bears the “who” changes depending on the “when.”