Bears News: Vegas odds on Justin Fields’ next team |
CHICAGO - With the future of Justin Fields’ career with the Bears up in the air, Illinois Bet published their odds on his next team. One popular team brought up is the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta finished third in arguably the worst division in the NFL this season. Desmond Ridder played quarterback for most of the season before Taylor Heinecke took over down the stretch. Neither one of them is a franchise quarterback, making them in desperate need of a quarterback. One problem is they may not have someone the Bears would want to trade for that they would also be willing to give up. Receiver Drake London was their only wide receiver with over 300 receiving yards while on defense, they did not have a single player with more sacks this whole season than Bears’ edge rusher Montez Sweat had during the first half of the season he had with the Washington Commanders (6.5), and he had another six once he arrived in Chicago. Any trade for Fields would most likely involve another player, but Atlanta does not seem to fit that. According to Illinois Bet, Fields has a 17.4 percent chance of landing their next. After the Falcons, the Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots are tied with a 10 percent chance each of landing Fields. Around the time of the 2021 NFL Draft, there were reports that the Patriots were interested in Fields and thought he would fall to them at the No. 15 pick in the draft; that did not happen since Chicago traded up to No. 11. They ended up settling for Mac Jones, which has been a complete disaster as he has been benched for Bailey Zappe multiple times. But again, they do not appear to have a viable player to trade to Chicago as their best player this season was running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and the Bears would most likely not be interested in a running back in a trade. For the Raiders, they also had quite the debacle at quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo did not work out for them, and Aidan O’Connell does not quite seem like a franchise quarterback; Fields would certainly be an improvement from O’Connell. They are looking for a new head coach, just like the Falcons and Patriots are. If the Raiders are interested in trading away elite players, which they might do, receiver Davante Adams or defensive end Maxx Crosby could be on the table. Both of them signed four-year contracts for the Raiders back in March of 2022. It also has been reported that Crosby would be open to exploring trade options if Antonio Pierce is not made the permanent head coach of the Raiders. So, perhaps this is more likely than the odds indicate. Next, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and Minnesota Vikings are all listed as having a 7.7 percent chance of being the team Fields is on next season. For Denver, this does not seem likely if they keep Russell Wilson, although there is a lot of controversy there. Pittsburgh certainly needs a quarterback as they appear to be benching Kenny Pickett in favor of Mason Rudolph going into the playoffs. The Steelers tried to give former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky a chance, but the offense looked dismal in both of the games he started. Finally, Minnesota's chances of wanting Fields are dependent on whether they are going to bring back Kirk Cousins. What has the greatest odds of happening -- Fields staying with the Bears or going to a team other than the six teams mentioned? Since Fields has one more season on his rookie contract, it would make sense for Chicago to keep him around for one more season and see how he performs. This is especially true given they are getting a new offensive coordinator and will have plenty of picks, including a high first-rounder in the 2025 NFL Draft if they trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. So, according to Illinois Bet, it appears most likely that Justin Fields will stay in Chicago.
