On Monday, March 11, the legal tampering period begins where teams and free agents can connect and start the process of signing even though nothing can be official until March 13. When Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles said that if the Bears were planning to trade quarterback Justin Fields, they wanted to be fair to him and do it ahead of the start of free agency.
Time is running out for the Bears to keep their word and let Fields go elsewhere before teams start filling their quarterback needs with free agents instead.
For the Bears, this delay means the value of Fields in any trade is dropping. It’s highly unlikely Chicago can command even a second-round pick at this point, which means some team could end up getting a huge value if Fields ends up in the right system.
Meanwhile, former USC quarterback Caleb Williams is 100 percent convinced he’s going No. 1 overall but if the Bears cannot trade Fields, will they still use the pick or will attention turn to trying to trade back and roll with Fields?