Buccaneers should absolutely call Chicago Bears about a Justin Fields trade

There’s no delicate way to dive into this: The Chicago Bears may seriously be considering trading Justin Fields this offseason.

Cue the Dr. Evil riiiiiight.

As crazy as it seems, the idea that Chicago is

There had already been rumblings that Chicago wasn’t fully committed to Fields after they landed the No. 1 pick in the draft, with the most popular theory being they’d take Bryce Young and build around him. The shock value of this lies in the tremendous step forward Fields took this season despite playing with what was basically a JV team all season in Chicago.

Each week it seemed he turned in a new highlight reel play, but the hardo football take was that those highlights were of individual plays and not footage of the Bears winning games.

Again, consider what he was working with but we digress.

What started as a wild report is actually starting to slowly gain traction. Former NFL GM Mike Tenanbaum said on ESPN’s First Take that the Bears would be wise to trade Fields and start over with a new young quarterback.

This is the Don’t Give Me Hope meme from Avenger’s Endgame come to life for Bucs fans.

If, for some godforsaken reason, the Bears make the mind-numbingly dumb decision to trade Justin Fields, the Buccaneers should be at the front of the line.

Let’s allow ourselves to live in this world where the Bears trading Fields makes sense, because there is a way for the logic to add up. FIelds is entering the third year of his rookie contract, which means a massive contract extension is in his near future. Chicago can essentially reset the clock by drafting Young and starting the rookie contract cycle over, which may also align with creating a new timeline for the team to build a Super Bowl contender.

It’s a bold strategy, but it does make sense from a certain point of view.

That being said, if almost every other team in the league wants to help you trade your starting quarterback, chances are he might be good enough to build around already. Tampa Bay should absolutely swoop in and take a chance on trying to acquire Fields if the Bears are crazy enough to actually trade him.

While Chicago would be resetting its timeline, the Bucs would be expediting their own. Rather than drafting a quarterback of the future next year or trying to develop Kyle Trask, Tampa Bay could essentially draft Fields to be that guy. It would likely cost at least the Bucs first round pick this year and next year, which they’re already being rumored to use on a quarterback anyway. Rather than taking a shot with an unproven prospect like Anthony Richardson or Hendon Hooker, or gambling that they’ll be in a position to draft Caleb Williams, why not use those picks on Fields?

It’s a crazy thing to suggest, no doubt, but so is the idea that Chicago would trade Fields and not use the No. 1 pick to collect a war chest of future assets.

If the Bears are dumb enough to trade Fields, the Bucs should be smart enough to help take him off their hands. For an organization that desperately needs a franchise quarterback of the future, there shouldn’t be a price too high the Bucs would be willing to pay for Fields.