Justin Fields could be sharing some unwanted c♚ompany.
No, not just the possibility that he could be stuck uncomfortably on the same roster as Caleb Williams if the Bears do not find a suitable trade offer for Fields before lik♉ely drafting Williams to take over as the starting quarterbac🅠k with the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
Fields su🅘rprisingly is being lumped 🐠into the same quarterback conversation as failed-starters-turned-backups Sam Darnold and Drew Lock in the feedback that the Bears are getting from other teams, according to a report from .
There were reports earlier in the offseason that the Bears might be able to recoup a second-r😼ound draft pick for Fields.
That ship appears to have sailed if teams 𒁃see Fields as the equal to some of thไose journeyman free agents.
Darnold, who spent last season as the 49ers backup, is 21-35 with a caജreer 78.3 quarterback rating for the Jets, Panthers and 49ers.
Lock is 9-14 with a 79.5 rating for the Broncos and🌜 Seahawks, spending the last two seasons as Geno Smith’s backup after surprisingly losing the 2022 open competition to replace Russell Wilson.
Fields is 10-28 with an 82.3 ratingཧ over three sea♉sons as the Bears starter.
But he adds significant value as a runner, with 2,220 yards and 1⭕4 touchdowns on the ground in 40 𓃲games.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles wanted to trade Fields before free agency opens Monday for everybody’s best interest but might have to wait to see where Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson si﷽gn and if any new teams emerge as possible destinations for Fields as the quarterback ca🐈rousel spins.
If not,๊ he might have to settle for being a backu⛦p.
If traded, Fields will be the third of the fivඣe first-round quarterbacks from 2021 to be dealt.
Trey Lance was traded from the 49ers to the Cowboys last offseason and Mac Jones was traded fr𓆏om the Pa🅷triots to the Jaguars on Sunday.
The Jets are hoping to find a partner to take Zach Wilson and make it four on the move.
Fields’ next team could owe him as much as $3.2 million in 2024, which is a low-end sta🍃rter or mid-level backup money.
He has a $23.3 million🍎 option for 2025 that must be decided on by May.
