Dwindling QB Demand Can't Be Good for Bears

Analysis: Why the market for Justin Fields appears like it could be shrinking beneath the Bears' feet.
Dwindling QB Demand Can't Be Good for Bears
Dwindling QB Demand Can't Be Good for Bears /
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Should the Bears decide they're trading Justin Fields, they could face a marketplace drying up before it even gets started.

It all revolves around the fact there are only so many teams pursuing quarterbacks who might not be in position to get one in the draft capable of starting and leading  their team in 2024.

Much could hinge on whether division rival Minnesota is able to secure a new contract with quarterback Kirk Cousins prior to free agency.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini said Cousins heading to the Atlanta Falcons "makes sense," while on The Athletic Football Show.

Reports from Minnesota have said the Vikings are extremely interested in bringing Cousins back with a new contract but if they can't it is being reported elsewhere that the Falcons do have an interest in Cousins. It had been Atlanta where trade interest in Fields seemed centered following interviews given by coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot at the combine.

Falcons coach Arthur Blank is said in one report to have told Fontenot and Morris to basically get done what needs to get done in regards to bringing Cousins to Atlanta.

It's an entirely different scenario if Atlanta signs Cousins in free agency. 

The Falcons do have past ties to Cousins, as well. Morris was a defensive backs coach with Washington when Cousins was there for the first six years of his career. Zac Robinson is bringing in the Rams offense, one like the one run by Kevin O'Connell with the Vikings. Both O'Connell and Robinson have worked for Rams coach Sean McVay.

The other tie-in is Cousins' wife, Julie, is from the Atlanta area (Alpharetta, Ga.).

If the Falcons do not sign Fields, Pittsburgh had been rumored as a potential suitor but reports surfaced two weeks ago saying the Steelers were against bringing Fields there and likely would give Kenny Pickett a chance still to prove himself. There have been reports linking them to interest in Russell Wilson.

Besides, it's well known new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith had the chance in Tennessee to draft Fields and did not.

If not those two favorites, then where?

The Raiders would make sense except that their new offensive coordinator is former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and it's not known whether he would want to be coaching Fields again. Considering the Bears didn't get higher than 20th on offense with Fields as his quarterback and with DJ Moore available as a target, it's difficult to believe this would be a desired matchup.

Teams like New England and Washington are well situated to draft their answers at quarterback. Denver will need a quarterback but appears in place to draft someone from the second group of passers in this draft, like JJ McCarthy, Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr.

There are teams with quarterbacks still being given chances who might want to bring Fields in as a challenger but in such cases there's little doubt the asking price would be lower because demand is lower. The Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks are teams with such situations. It's always possible the Broncos might have interest.

It all looks like a much lower demand for Fields' services and in that case much lower return in their trade. The general consensus had been a second-rounder and Day 3 pick for Fields but this could be challenged now.

It might also mean a case in which he could be going to a team where he'll have to battle someone for a starting spot and worse yet from the standpoint of the Bears, it could even mean the possibility of trading him to a division rival—the Vikings—should they fail to sign Cousins.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven


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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.