Former Bears starting quarterback Justin Fields finally lands in the perfect situation to take a backseat before salvaging his career
Justin Fields is staying in the AFC but will be on his fourth team in four seasons.
For the fourth time in four years, former Chicago Bears first-round pick and former starting quarterback Justin Fields will be wearing a new uniform.
It’s far from the turn of events Fields expected for his NFL career but this time things could be different. On Monday, the New York Jets agreed to a deal that will send Fields to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick, the preferred destination for the 27-year-old QB.
The Jets were expected to move on from Fields, who started nine games for New York during the 2025 season, and last week made a trade to reunite with Geno Smith to be the team’s 2026 starter.
Justin Fields is finally in the best possible situation for his future career
Fields started his career with the Chicago Bears back in 2021 when the team traded up to acquire the dual-threat quarterback with the 11th overall pick. After his first season in Chicago, Fields’ offensive-minded head coach Matt Nagy was fired and replaced by a defensive head coach in Matt Eberflus.
The Eberflus-Fields led team went on to win eight games in two years before the Bears decided to part ways with Fields in favor of drafting Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It was a tough decision for the franchise to make moving on from Fields so soon and one that was widely debated at the time, but the Bears came out of it a better team.
But, Bears general manager Ryan Poles wanted to do right by Fields and make sure he landed in an ideal situation. He even took less to trade Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that had an open starting position up for grabs and a well-respected head coach in Mike Tomlin.
“If we were to do something with Justin [Fields], I want to do right by him,” Poles explained about the decision back in 2024.
Fields went on to start six games for the Steelers before being replaced by veteran quarterback Russell Wilson. After the season, Pittsburgh let both quarterbacks walk out of the door with Fields signing a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets to be the team’s starting quarterback under a first-year defensive head coach in Aaron Glenn. Needless to say, it was a disaster two years for Fields.
And now that road leads to Kansas City, arguably the best-run organization in the AFC to be the backup quarterback behind two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes under a well-respected offensive head coach in Andy Reid. The Chiefs were in need of an insurance policy at quarterback after Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in December and were able to strike on the ideal option.
Mahomes is progressing well and hopes to be back in action by the start of the 2026 season. If there’s any setback or delay, the Chiefs now have a capable starter on the roster until Mahomes is ready that can benefit then from taking the backseat with this kind of organization once Mahomes is back.
It’s going to be a valuable time for Fields to lay low and learn from one of the best of all time (which extends to both Mahomes and Reid) before thinking about salvaging his career as a starting quarterback.
Chicago Bears News
Bears Post-Free Agency 7-Round 2026 Mock Draft: Chicago has clear positions to target in April after a modest spending spree
The Chicago Bears are banking heavily on the draft class to get the team over the hump.
Chicago Bears News
Bears 2026 Way-To-Early 53-Man Roster Projection: Chicago adds eight new faces but questions arise if improvement was actually made
The Chicago Bears roster is shaping out a lot differently going into the 2026 season.
