Bears QB Justin Fields eager for trade drama to end, tells team 'Let me know'
Fields has an 82.3 passer rating in three seasons with the Bears.
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In his first public comments since the end of last season, Bears quarterback Justin Fields said he wants to stay with the team.
Fields appeared on the St. Brown Bros podcast episode that was released Wednesday. It’s hosted by Equanimeous St. Brown, who played for the Bears the last two seasons, and Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“Of course I want to stay,” Fields said. “I can’t see myself playing in another place. If it was up to me, I would want to stay in Chicago. I love the city. The city’s lit. The fans are great.
“It’s a business; I ain’t got no control over it. The biggest thing with all this going on: I just want it to be over. Let me know if I’m getting traded [or] let me know if I’m staying.”
He said he recently unfollowed the Bears and the NFL on Instagram simply to get a break from football content on his timeline and that there was no hidden message to the team in the move. Amon-Ra St. Brown pointed out, however, that he still follows Ohio State football and other NFL players.
Several teams have been popular trade destinations in the media for Fields, including his hometown Falcons. He grew up as a fan of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.
He sounded intrigued by that option when asked.
“Atlanta would be tough,” Fields said. “The only con of going back home is people hitting my phone like crazy wanting tickets to the game. They’ve got a lot of good players. They probably need one more receiver. But they’ve definitely got some guys over there and their defense [is good].”
The Bears have the Nos. 1 and 9 picks in the draft, and USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the consensus top prospect. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2022 and in two seasons with the Trojans, he threw 72 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions while completing 67.5% of his passes and averaging 314.2 yards per game. He rushed for 21 touchdowns as well.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles surely would get a record haul for the No. 1 pick if he traded it, but the reason teams are willing to pay such a high price is because Williams is viewed as a once-every-few-years talent. The general expectation for Fields, conversely, is that the Bears would do well to get a second-rounder in return.
Poles said at the end of the season he was “wide open” to either option of drafting a quarterback or keeping Fields. Poles likely will talk again next week at the NFL scouting combine.
Poles inherited Fields when he took the job in January 2022. Former general manager Ryan Pace traded up to draft Fields at No. 11 in 2021 — a deal that ensured he would be cemented as the starter when Poles took over and gave up the team’s 2022 first-round pick.
Fields struggled as a rookie under Pace and former coach Matt Nagy, then made modest improvements each of the last two seasons. Nonetheless, among the 29 quarterbacks who threw at least 300 passes last season, he finished 27th in completion percentage (61.4), 22nd in yards passing (2,562), 20th in touchdown passes (16), 11th in fewest interceptions (nine) and 20th in passer rating (85.6).
He was second among quarterbacks with 657 yards rushing, coming off a season in which he was the third quarterback ever to top 1,000.
But Fields’ running ability has never been in question. The issue has been whether he can make it as a passer, and if he can’t, it will undercut everything else Poles has put in place. He threw for fewer than 200 yards in 25 of 38 starts the last three seasons; the other top running quarterbacks — Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen — each averaged at least 225 yards passing per game last season.