Recently, The Athletic polled eight different NFL coaches and executives in a brilliant, resourceful story about Justin Fields’ trade value this offseason.
Here are the main takeaways from the coaches and execs.
“The majority opinion is the Bears would corral a second- or third-round pick, but there was some variation in those responses,” Jeff Howe wrote. “One executive said he’d be worth a second-rounder or its equivalent value in a package of a third- and fifth-round pick.
“Two other executives thought the return would be a second- or third-rounder, depending on where the selection is in the round. Another believed it could be a 2025 third-round pick that could become a second-rounder based on certain statistical benchmarks.”
According to the report, there were two outliers. One coach thinks a first-round pick could be in play based on “supply and demand.” By that theory, the Bears would need to trade Fields soon. On March 13, NFL free agency will open and quarterbacks will come off the market quickly.
The other outlier, according to Howe, was a coach who said he’d only cough up a third-round pick for Fields. An executive told Howe “there’s a reason they’re moving on.”
Recently, NFL Goliath reporter Adam Schefter offered his two cents on “The Pat McAfee Show” on what he thinks the Bears will get in return for Fields.
“Sam Darnold, to me, when you talk to people, might be the most relevant compensation comparison,” Schefter said. “… I think that the Justin Fields compensation is somewhere between what Alex Smith got and what Sam Darnold brought.”
When the Jets moved off of Darnold to draft Zach Wilson back in 2021, they sent him to Carolina in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick. That’s a nice return for a quarterback the Bears would hypothetically have no use for.
We should know in the next couple of weeks where things stand with Fields. General manager Ryan Poles told the media he’d prefer to do right by Fields and move him as soon as possible if the Bears decide to go down that route.
“No one wants to live in gray, I know that’s uncomfortable,” Poles said on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t want to be in that situation either. So, we will gather the information, we will move as quickly as possible, we are not going to be in a rush and see what presents itself and what’s best for the organization.”
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