The Minnesota Vikings haven’t had much success in their quest to replace Kirk Cousins during the year, but this offseason is shaping up to be a different story.
Minnesota has put together a patchwork solution following Cousins’ Achilles tear, adding two career reserves in Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens and an unproven starter in Jaren Howell. Both Dobbs and Hall are mobile quarterbacks, which is a departure from Cousins’ model of hanging in the pocket with Kevin O’Connell’s ability to make any type of throw. The Vikings’ decision to pursue that quarterback move, both in the draft and before the trade deadline, could be an indication of how the team thinks when selecting its QB of the future.
For that reason, NBC Sports’ Peter King floated During an Oct. 31 hit on 670 The Score’s Parkins & Spiegel Show, there’s a good chance Minnesota will pursue a trade for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
“Justin Fields, if he goes somewhere, you’d think that whoever trades for him is going to come in and play or trade for him, he’s going to be a very serious contender for a starting job right away,” King said. “One team that stands out to me is Atlanta. Another team that stands out a bit to me is Minnesota. We’ll see what happens when Kirk’s relatives are on vacation.
The Bears could replace Justin Fields with a first-round pick in 2024.
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GettyChicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
It’s far from a given that Fields will be available next season, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
The Bears are 2-6 and if the 2024 NFL Draft were held today, they would pick No. 3. But because of the trade with the Carolina Panthers, Chicago will own the 2nd pick. There are a handful of highly regarded QB prospects in the upcoming class, with Caleb Williams at USC and Drake Maye at North Carolina. The Bears are out of the top spot in 2023, having already passed on a quarterback prospect, but their thinking may have changed since then.
Fields was the football’s fastest player from the position last season, gaining the second most ground yards for a QB in NFL history (1,143). The most popular narrative surrounding him coming into this season was that Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was helping Fields take the next step as a pass rusher, but that didn’t happen.
In six starts, Fields has completed 61.7% of 162 pass attempts for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, per Pro Football Reference. Chicago’s offensive line has struggled to keep up as its play has gone from bad to atrocious. When Fields saw the field, he couldn’t believe what his eyes were saying. The young QB has either missed open wide receivers downfield or failed to even throw the football on several occasions this year.
The Vikings could trade for Justin Fields at a good price.
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
This came in Week 6 as a pass for Fields against the Denver Broncos and the Washington Chiefs in Week 6 against the Vikings. Better than the ones in Chicago.
Fields is in the third season of his four-year, $18.9 million rookie contract. As a former first-round pick (No. 11), Chicago can exercise a fifth-year team option to keep Fields under contract through 2025.
The figure for that breakout year won’t be tabulated until the end of the season, but it will almost certainly be more than $20 million. As such, pitches aren’t cheap to get, but they aren’t too expensive either.
Also, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell reported on Oct. 19 that Field’s trade value has skyrocketed following the second-round pick’s early season struggles, meaning Minnesota may not need to break the bank in terms of trade capital to acquire the QB. Or.
Field’s contract situation, trade value and raw skill set make it possible for a team like the Vikings to develop quarterbacks and perhaps have more offensive firepower than any other NFL franchise.
The Vikings haven’t closed the door on a return for the 36-year-old in 2024, even though the team hasn’t opted to extend him to a multi-year contract in either of the past two seasons, which doesn’t bode well for a new contract. From serious injury.
Hall is likely to confirm a vision in the coming weeks and talk about field business activity in Minnesota. Barring that growth, however, the Vikings’ front office must already be wondering what it will take to bring Fields into the fold.