Hypothetical trade for Justin Fields makes no sense for the Broncos
Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields might find himself on a new team in 2024, but that new team being the Denver Broncos makes no sense at all. The Bears find themselves in a unique situation, sort of. They have clinched the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft thanks to the ineptitude of the Carolina Panthers.
The Bears not only have the No. 1 pick in 2024, but they have their own first-round pick as well. The issue they face is whether or not to use that pick on a new QB and trade Justin Fields or to somehow use that top pick to bolster the situation around the third-year passer. The logical thing to do is for the Bears to trade Fields to the highest bidder and reset at the position.
If the Bears to want to trade Fields, the Denver Broncos might make sense to some people, but to me, it could not make less sense.
Hypothetical trade for Justin Fields makes no sense for the Broncos
The first issue with this trade is that the Broncos would have to quickly make a decision on Fields' fifth-year option. That option is going to be around $22 million in 2024. There'd be no reason to extend Fields, as he hasn't proven to be worthy of a QB extension, so the Broncos would not only have to endure the financial fallout of cutting Russell Wilson, but they'd have to again dip into paying for a QB.
They'd have limited control over Fields since he'd be entering his fourth year. Another reason why the Broncos shouldn't trade for Fields is well, he's not that good and would not be a fit in Sean Payton's offense. The biggest reason why Russell Wilson was not a good fit in Payton's offense is because Wilson is at his best when he plays out of structure and off-schedule.
Is that not exactly how Justin Fields plays the game at his best? And when you look at what Fields has done in his three years as a starter in the NFL, it's hard to think he'll be any better in 2024. Fields has played in 39 games in the NFL. In those games he has thrown for 6,526 yards, 40 touchdowns, 30 interceptions, and has earned a passer rating of 82.
He averages 167.3 passing yards per game and has taken 130 sacks over his career. Here's my thing with Fields; what are the Fields' supporters waiting for? He's going to have played 40 games in the NFL and has not yet shown that he can be a consistent franchise QB?
What are we waiting for him to do? And how many other QBs in the history of the NFL have gotten into their fourth year to prove that they are a franchise passer? There's also a fumbling issue with Fields. He's fumbled the ball 38 times in 39 games, so he's good for one fumble per game, which is just abysmal. Not only that, he's much less productive on the ground this year than he was last year.
When you look at franchise QBs in the NFL, you can tell that they are legit by year two, usually. Just start looking at the true franchise passers in the NFL and their year two jumps. Just to name a few: Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Josh Allen, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, among other QBs all showed clear, franchise QB improvement in year two.
Justin Fields did not do that, and he's the same exact passer this year as he was last year.
And in the beginning of October of this year, Justin Fields went absolutely berserk through the air against two horrible defenses in the Washington Commanders and the Denver Broncos. During that two-game stretch, FIelds tossed eight touchdown passes, one interception, and 617 yards. In every other game this year, Justin Fields threw for eight touchdowns against eight interceptions.
There's no consistency to his game, and a hypothetical trade to the Denver Broncos could not make less sense.