Ranking 8 best starting QB scenarios for Broncos in 2024
- Free agency pickings will be slim
- The draft may be the best place to find the answer
- One massive trade idea
1. Justin Fields
This is easily the most complicated scenario on this list but it's the idea I like the most. That would be trading for Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears.
The Bears hold a lot of cards this offseason by virtue of the trade they made last year ahead of the draft coupled with how bad the Carolina Panthers were this season. Currently, they have the No. 1 pick in the draft as well as the No. 9 pick in the draft.
What do they do with the No. 1 pick? Do they take a quarterback with that pick when a guy like Caleb Williams is there? Or do they March on with Justin Fields? If they go that route, do they trade the No. 1 pick to acquire more picks?
In my opinion, keeping Fields and trading that first overall pick for an even bigger stash is the right way to go, but if the Bears decide they just have to have Williams or even Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels, then the Broncos should be in on obtaining Fields.
The Broncos had their chance to draft Fields in 2021(and many fans were upset that they didn't) but would they be interested in getting him now?
Fields has not played bad for a Bears team that lacks overall talent. He does turn the ball over a bit too much but he is capable of making huge plays, particularly with his feet. Basically, all of the things that Josh Allen gets credited for.
For me, Fields is the best running quarterback in the league, even ahead of Lamar Jackson, as of right now. He rushed for over 1,100 yards in 2022 and though that number dropped down considerably this year, he still has the capability of making those kinds of plays when a play breaks down or if he has to ad-lib on the fly.
Fields will only be 25 years old when the season starts and he has three years of experience under his belt, putting him miles ahead of guys like Penix, Nix and McCarthy.
He wouldn't come cheap. The Broncos would almost certainly have to part with their first-round pick plus other picks or players, but it's a move that could change the direction of the franchise and be the positive change that the team has been in search of for close to a decade.