Bears' Jaylon Johnson addresses uncertain future of Justin Fields

It sounds like Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson expects the team will eventually trade quarterback Justin Fields either before or after the club makes USC Trojans signal-caller Caleb Williams the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft this spring. 

"We know the business that we’re in," Johnson acknowledged while speaking with reporters on Monday, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. "So I feel like it wouldn’t be mature of us as a locker room not to rally together in spite of having Justin leave." 

While mock drafts continue to link the Bears with Williams, there seems to be little trade market for Fields as teams around the NFL understand the 2021 first-round draft pick will soon be surplus to requirements in Chicago. According to Alex Shapiro of NBC Sports Chicago, NFL Network personality Daniel Jeremiah suggested on Monday that the Philadelphia Eagles or Baltimore Ravens could eventually consider taking a flier on Fields to make him a backup. For a piece published Monday afternoon, Courtney Cronin of ESPN speculated that the Bears "could keep Fields and a rookie quarterback drafted No. 1 overall on the roster throughout the offseason and trade the 25-year-old when an injury takes out a starter." 

Johnson made it known Monday he wants Fields to stick around until further notice. 

"I know what it would do to keep him here," Johnson added about the club's current QB1. "I know how we would feel with him here...We’ll all have our opinions, our emotions, but as far as the locker room staying together, I think we have the right guys in the locker room to keep everything together, to keep us together." 

The Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings are among teams that made non-Fields-related quarterback plans ahead of and/or during the NFL's legal tampering portion of free agency. Many analysts believe New England will also take a signal-caller with the third pick of the 2024 draft, and Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic was among individuals who predicted on Tuesday that the Vikings could acquire the fifth overall choice via a trade and then use that asset to land a rookie quarterback. 

It's unclear if Bears general manager Ryan Poles would send Fields to Minnesota or any other division rival before Week 1 of the 2024 season.