The prevailing thought amongst all reports covering the NFL Scouting Combine this past week is that the Chicago Bears will be trading Justin Fields.
That was the initial belief after Bears' general manager Ryan Poles met with reporters this past Tuesday that the team was ready to move on from Fields and reporting since has confirmed that is the organization's intention.
While Poles may be hoping that a trade of Fields will be completed before the start of the new league year on March 13, the latest from Dianna Russini of The Athletic (Subscription Required) is that the Bears may need to wait until after the first wave of free agency.
While reporting that the Bears are indeed moving in the direction of taking Caleb Williams with the first overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, Russini added that the trade market for Fields may not have fully developed yet.
The latest timeline for when the Chicago Bears will trade Justin Fields.
The premise of Russini's reporting is that the team involved in the market for free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins may pivot to Fields if they cannot recruit the veteran quarterback. The Minnesota Vikings remain in the mix to bring Cousins back, but the Atlanta Falcons are also involved in his market. The Falcons were among the first teams to have checked in on the availability of Fields this week.
One thing should also be mentioned, regardless of where the trade market for Fields stands. No scenario exists where the Bears would take Williams with the first overall selection and keep Fields. This scenario would be a disservice to Williams and counter-intuitive to why the Bears would keep Fields.
The end of the Fields' era is here for the Bears, and a trade of the former Ohio State quarterback is now a matter of when and not if.