Justin Fields Trade Timeline Revealed

The Chicago Bears reportedly are not getting a strong trade market for quarterback Justin Fields, which has been rather surprising to Chicago. Bears general manager Ryan Poles said that he would love to have the deal in place before free agency, but that seems unlikely as of right now. Teams are not really tripping over themselves to trade for Fields.

So when will the Fields saga be ironed out? Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright thinks it won’t be settled until April.

“If they can find a taker, before the draft. After wave 1 of FA,” Allbright wrote on X after being asked about the timeline for Fields’ trade.

Allbright added that he was told that Fields was not a consideration by the Broncos.

Adam Schefter of ESPN confirmed on the Pat McAfee Show Monday that the Steelers are “absolutely” looking at quarterback options, including trading for Fields. This contradicts a report by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, stating that Pittsburgh is not among the teams actively working to trade for Fields.

“They’re looking, they’re absolutely looking, and I would expect at some point they’re gonna add one of those guys,” Schefter said. “It doesn’t feel like they are in an urgent mode to where, boy we’re gonna go make the move for Kirk Cousins on Day 1 of free agency and outspend all these guys. I think that they still absolutely have hopes for Kenny Pickett, which I think enters in the ultimate decision they make in whatever quarterback they bring aboard.”

Explicitly asked at the NFL Combine about potentially trading for Fields, Steelers general manager Omar Khan said that he would not get into specifics about the conversations he’s had around the league.

“I’m not gonna go into details about the conversations that we’ve had,” he said. “But like I mentioned earlier, I can tell you that I have an obligation to look at every avenue that’s out there to make us a better football team.”

Fields took a small step forward in 2023, his third year as Chicago’s starting quarterback. The 24-year-old Ohio State alum threw 370 times, completing 227 for 2,562 yards and 16 touchdowns. He threw nine interceptions and maintained an 86.3 passer rating and a 5.29 adjusted net yards per attempt.

Last season, he was 192 of 318 for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, an 85.2 quarterback rating and 4.63 adjusted net yards per attempt.

Fields is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Bears — or another team, if he’s traded — must decide this offseason if they want to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract. That would be a guaranteed $25 million contract for 2025. The Bears or another club could also attempt to negotiate a traditional contract extension.