Chicago Bears

As NFL QB market develops, Bears should be patient with Justin Fields decision

Updated Mar. 4, 2024 5:45 p.m. ET

The Chicago Bears were the main topic of NFL Combine week in Indianapolis for a second consecutive year.

Why shouldn’t they be? They have the first overall pick in the draft yet again and a quarterback due a sizable amount of money very soon on their roster.

However, a decision on Justin Fields' future likely isn’t coming soon.

"Contrary to the reports out there, I have no master plan to present today," said Poles to reporters in Indy. "This is an opportunity for us to continue to gather information, learn about the different players in the draft, listen to what opportunities could come up and then at the end of the day, we’re going to make the best decision that we can for the Chicago Bears."

How diplomatic.

Last year, general manager Ryan Poles traded the No. 1 pick a week after the combine. He got what he wanted in the form of a star receiver in D.J. Moore from the Carolina Panthers, along with a great deal of draft capital — including this year’s first overall pick. Given the unique position the Bears are now in, and the caliber of quarterbacks in this year’s class, moving on from Fields makes too much sense. At least, that was the sentiment from NFL brass in Indianapolis hotel bars and various restaurants.

But what was also pointed out is the market for Fields — or rather, the lack thereof. It doesn’t seem to be as robust as perhaps Poles would want. The compensation ceiling I've had relayed to me by league sources is somewhere around a third-round pick for the former first-round quarterback.

A team willing to do that deal at all hasn’t clearly materialized, though. It likely won’t either until some other quarterback dominos fall, namely Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield.

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers locking up wide receiver Mike Evans for the next two years, it seems only logical their next order of business is Mayfield. But after leading Tampa to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs and winning the division yet again, the Bucs won’t be the only ones with their eyes on Mayfield. That opens the door for other teams that could perhaps pay Mayfield more to enter the conversation. And Mayfield would have to listen.

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The same goes for Cousins, who has always been about his business. It wasn’t long ago that he changed the course of quarterback guarantees forever when he signed a fully guaranteed $84 million deal that got him to Minnesota in the first place. The Vikings let him play out the last of his latest deal, a two-year, fully guaranteed $66 million contract.

You can bet Cousins' continued tenure in Minnesota will be based on the contract terms. It’s true Cousins is on the wrong side of 35 and coming off an Achilles injury, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the plethora of quarterback-needy teams throughout the league, especially if the whispers around Indy are any indication.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell have both been vocal about wanting Cousins to remain a Vikings. But O’Connell also offered up that he’s "earned the right to become a free agent" on NFL Network’s combine broadcast. He’ll have no shortage of suitors, either. Reports out of the combine suggested the Atlanta Falcons have definite interest in Cousins.

"I know Kirk is going to go through a full process," said O’Connell. "He's a process guy. And hopefully, we continue to be a strong part in that process and we figure out a way to keep him a Minnesota Viking."

If Cousins does stay in Minnesota and Mayfield stays in Tampa, Poles and the Bears will get a clearer picture of Fields' market. But it likely won’t come before then. Those two are, far and away, the best of the free-agent quarterback class this offseason.

That was the overarching sentiment conveyed to me by various NFL decision-makers in Indianapolis. Fields doesn’t appear to be any team’s first option.

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Chicago has some incentive to wait on dealing Fields, considering their opportunity to draft a quarterback first overall won't come until April 25. Consensus top prospect Caleb Williams chose to forego medical testing in Indianapolis, electing to only have medical evaluations done by teams he has official visits with.

The Bears will undoubtedly be on that list, but they’ll have to wait to be sure of Williams’ health, which has another domino effect as illustrated by Peter Schrager.

Poles has expressed wanting to ‘do right by’ Fields, which would involve coming to a resolution sooner rather than later. However, the soonest Williams could get into Chicago on one of their top-30 visits, in which each team gets to bring 30 prospects into their facility, is the first week of April.

Bears fans could be waiting longer than expected to find out who their quarterback will be in 2024. Chicago has all the incentive to sit on this decision.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.