The Chicago Bears are trying to get back to the center of the football world.
What teams do with their No.
1 draft pick will soon become a major question in the NFL.
General manager Ryan Pauls is hiding his cards again after ultimately taking the No.
1 overall pick last year.
But no matter which way Chicago goes, one outcome is almost certain for him.
That means a major trade is imminent.
The Bears will either move their top pick to ransom King or use him to draft a generational prospect, with Justin Fields most likely to hit the trade market after that.
expensive.
The majority of NFL analysts believe Chicago will ultimately go down the latter path.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin is one of them, and as of Dec.
22, 2023, he ranks the Seattle Seahawks as the five most logical trade targets for Fields this offseason.
“Geno Smith was signed to a new contract last offseason as a veteran starter, but just like team leaders did around the 2023 draft, Seattle is looking to replace a young player even in an injury-plagued season.
We may not be able to stop looking for players,” Benjamin wrote.
“Smith may be assigned a pay cut after June 1 to save $22.
5 million.
” The Seahawks are a franchise in transition since firing head coach Pete Carroll on Jan.
10.
And this is the most surprising thing in the NFL.
The team has not yet named his replacement, but negotiations are still ongoing and whoever succeeds Carroll will likely want to make his choice under center.
Seattle played too well to be in a position to take one of the top two or three QB prospects in the 2024 draft, taking all of them before the Arizona Cardinals came in at No.
4.
may be removed from membership.
That won’t stop the Seahawks from selecting a quarterback, but they’ll likely do so later in the draft.
Maybe moving down from the 16th overall pick or applying it to a signal caller.
The problem with this strategy is that you’re unlikely to get a starter in center right away.
Seattle is unable to pick again until the third round (78th and 81st), leaving the franchise in a bind.
They could draft an up-and-coming QB who needs work in the mid-to-late first round, they could stick with Smith, who they didn’t get in 2023, or they could target an expensive veteran in free agency.
Fields is probably a better solution than all three above.
The contract structure allows Fields to keep costs down over the next two years, with a five-year option for him to extend his contract through 2025.
Additionally, since he is a two-way quarterback and only 24 years old, the Seahawks’ next head coach will have the ability to build a roster and offensive program around Fields’ talents.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin and Jeremy Fowler, the general consensus in NFL circles in early January was that Fields’ trade value would be determined somewhere in the second or third round.
But that could change as teams begin evaluating their options at quarterback given Fields’ age, price, untouchable athleticism, and the support he has built within the Bears’ locker room and fan base.
Highly sexual.
Seattle is in a group of teams that could get a start after free agency dries up and before the draft begins in late April.
If so, Fields would likely be a strong candidate and could be worthy of a mid-first round pick.
Max Dible covers the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, and Golden State Warriors for Heavy.com.
He covered local and national news as a reporter for West Hawaiian Today, and prior to joining Heavy, he served as Director of News at Big Island Now.com and Pacific Media Group’s Big Island radio stations.
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