The Bears might decide Justin Fields isn’t the answer they need at quarterback, but he could still be a solution for someone else. If they look at drafting a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick, which they’re strongly favored to get via the Panthers, they’ll be looking to trade Fields to a team like the Falcons.
The Falcons come to Soldier Field on Sunday clinging to their playoff hopes at 7-8 in the sad NFC South, just one game behind the Buccaneers. But whether they sneak in or not, they know they’re not good.
And they don’t have a quarterback, nor do they have an obvious way to correct that. If Bears general manager Ryan Poles looks to make a move, this is the type of team that likely will be calling.
Several quarterback-needy teams like the Falcons won’t be picking high enough in the draft to find their answer. That means they’ll either have to give up a ton in a trade to move up, like the Panthers did to jump from No. 9 to No. 1 in their deal with the Bears this year, explore a limited free-agent field headlined by Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill or save their most valuable draft capital and salary-cap space by trading for someone like Fields.
The Atlanta option will be even more intriguing if Ryan Pace is still there. Pace went to the Falcons after the Bears fired him as general manager at the end of the 2021 season and now is their director of player personnel, and one of his last big swings with the Bears was trading up to draft Fields 11th overall.
If the Bears offload Fields, they’ll be looking for two things: Maximum return and minimal risk of regret. On the first front, the goal will be to get a second-round pick. On the second, trading him out of the NFC would be ideal, but at least sending him to the Falcons is better than doing a deal with the Vikings.
It could appeal to Fields as well, though he probably won’t have any say in where he goes. He is from nearby Kennesaw, Ga., and his dad had Falcons season tickets. He grew up rooting for Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. The team also has an offensive-minded head coach in Arthur Smith, assuming he is retained.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus, whose own future is unclear, reiterated Wednesday that the team hasn’t made any evaluation of or decision on Fields. Poles will be grading his performance on its own, but also weigh his progress against what he projects for top college prospects like Southern California’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
Fields said “nobody knows” what’s coming next for him and the Bears, or in life in general, for that matter.
“Whatever happens, happens,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. As of now, I’m focused on these meetings we’ve got [Wednesday] and this [game] coming up, so excited for that.”
Fields is coming off completing 15 of 27 passes for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a 71.5 passer rating in a 27-16 victory over the Cardinals. He was happy to win, but said he should’ve led the offense to 35 or 40 points against the second-worst defense in the NFL.
He’s certainly better than he was as a rookie under Pace and former coach Matt Nagy, but the Bears surely hoped for more progress by now as he nears the end of his third season.
Among 30 qualifying quarterbacks, Fields ranks 23rd in yards passing per game (195.1), 27th in completion percentage (60.9), 21st in touchdown passes (15), 14th in fewest interceptions (nine) and 21st in passer rating (84.5). He also is second at his position with 585 yards rushing.
The game Sunday could be somewhat of an audition for him for the Falcons. Coaches and general managers talk all the time about acquiring players who impressed them when they faced them.
And while the Bears have a high draft pick available to try for an upgrade, the Falcons don’t, and they’re worse off at quarterback with Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. They’re currently slotted for the No. 10 pick, but still could slide closer to 20th depending on their last two games.
When the Falcons traded Ryan to the Colts, they drafted Ridder in the third round. He backed up journeyman Marcus Mariota most of last season and was benched this month in favor of Heinicke, a 30-year-old on what is essentially a one-year contract. Heinicke is expected to start Sunday against the Bears, though he was limited in practice Wednesday because of an ankle injury.
Whoever starts for the Falcons is the better of two bad options, and that can’t sit well when the team has the No. 6 defense in the NFL and can’t score enough points to take advantage of playing in the league’s worst division. They’ll be desperate this offseason, and if Fields wows them Sunday, that only plays to Poles’ advantage.