Bears Show They're All-in on Justin Fields After No. 1 Draft Pick Blockbuster Trade

If it wasn't clear before Friday evening, the Chicago Bears, head coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles are firmly behind third-year quarterback Justin Fields. On Friday, Chicago dealt the No. 1 pick in April's draft—and with it, the opportunity to select the top quarterback prospect on the team's board—to the Carolina Panthers.

A month ago, Jason La Canfora of Audacy and the Washington Post reported that several NFL executives believed that Chicago was ready to move on from Fields. Friday's trade proves that the Bears are instead ready to run with him.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Chicago will receive wide receiver DJ Moore, the ninth overall pick in the draft, the 61st pick in the draft, a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick for the No. 1 selection.

That's quite a haul, and it would be enough to entice many teams to move down eight spots in the draft. However, the trade says just as much about how Chicago views Fields as it says about Poles' desire to stockpile draft capital.

Chicago must believe that Fields has at least as good of a chance to develop into a top-tier franchise quarterback as incoming prospects like Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Alabama's Bryce Young or Florida's Anthony Richardson. If it didn't, there's no way Chicago makes this trade.

While an argument could be made that Fields and the package of new additions are what's more valuable than a rookie prospect, a franchise that has been mired in quarterback mediocrity since pretty much the mid-'80s cannot take that stance.

If a franchise has a shot at a truly elite quarterback—one who can annually go toe to toe with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow—it doesn't squander that opportunity to add a few extra unproven players and one quality wide receiver.

Can Fields be that quarterback? That obviously remains to be seen, but he's proved an awful lot in his short time at the NFL level. The Ohio State product completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns, rushed for 1,143 yards and eight scores and posted an 85.2 passer rating in 2022—his first season under Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

While that 85.2 passer rating isn't overly impressive, it deserves context. Fields was learning a new system, played in an offense that lacked reliable receiving talent, and lost one of his few dependable targets, wideout Darnell Mooney, to a season-ending ankle injury after 12 games.

As we examined a month ago, Fields' passing numbers were actually on par with Hurts' numbers in his first year as the Philadelphia Eagles' starter in 2021. Hurts finished that season with a 61.3 percent completion rate and an 87.2 rating while rushing for 784 yards and 10 touchdowns.

With all due respect to Chicago, the 2021 Eagles were far more talent-laden than the 2022 Bears.

Like Hurts, Fields has also emerged as an offensive leader in whom his teammates believe.

"He can move along the line and make plays happen that would otherwise be a sack or a loss of yards," Bears wideout Chase Claypool said, per Andrew Gamble of the Daily Mirror. "He's able to turn a three-yard loss into a eight-yard touchdown, so it's super exciting to watch him play and grow as a player. I can't wait for this next year."

Fields has also earned the respect of his NFL peers.

"Obviously he can run the ball. He can make throws too," Buffalo Bills safety Micah Hyde said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "We played him Christmas Eve last year and in a cold game and he was tough to beat."

While Fields has rightfully earned accolades for his scrambling ability, it's not as if we haven't seen him be an accurate and dynamic passer before. In 22 games with the Buckeyes, he completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 5,373 yards and 63 touchdowns.

Was Ohio State more talented than many of the opponents Fields faced in college? Sure, but that's the point. By trading the No. 1 pick, Poles is now equipped to continue putting a top-tier supporting cast around his quarterback.

The process began during the season when Claypool was acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Getting Moore from Carolina was a big reason for the timing of this latest trade.

"The Bears wanted DJ Moore and to know they had him before free agency," NFL Media's Ian Rapoport tweeted. "They do now."

Chicago may take one of the draft's top defensive players with the ninth overall pick—considering it ranked 29th in total defense and 32nd in points allowed, it should—but Moore, who has 5,201 receiving yards in five seasons, can help Fields immediately.

That's two receivers acquired in a matter of months. A franchise doesn't go that hard after pass-catchers if it doesn't believe in the guy throwing the football. This probably won't mark the end of the Bears' efforts to put better players around Fields either.

Chicago has the extra draft selections and still leads the league with $75.6 million in cap space going into free agency.

Has Chicago believed that Fields is a quarterback worth building around all offseason or has it only recently decided that keeping him is better than diving back into the draft pool? The Bears were reportedly doing their homework on quarterback prospects going into last week's scouting combine.

"Sources questioned whether the Bears feel like there's a quarterback head-and-shoulders above Fields in this year's draft heading into the combine," CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones wrote in late February. "The interview process, combined with on-field work in Indianapolis, private workouts, pro days and top-30 visits to the team facility, will all be used to determine how Chicago ranks these quarterbacks."

Poles, Eberflus and the Bears may have truly been making a final decision on Fields as recently as a week ago. Or, they may have been presenting a smokescreen to increase the value of the top pick.

If it was the latter, the ruse worked.

We may never know how seriously Chicago truly considered drafting a quarterback and moving on from the talented 24-year-old it currently has. What is certain is that Fields is the Bears' quarterback now. If Poles can use his newfound capital to help transform the Bears roster into one in which his QB can thrive, Fields will remain "the guy" for many years to come.

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*Cap information via Spotrac.