Latest round of mock drafts suggest Bears will start over at quarterback

Where will Justin Fields play in 2024? According to the latest mock drafts from ESPN and Pro Football Focus, it won't be in Chicago.

Both ESPN's Jordan Reid and PFF's Trevor Sikkema have the Bears taking USC quarterback Caleb Williams No. 1 overall, which would pave the way for Chicago to trade Fields, who it selected No. 11 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The former Ohio State quarterback from 2019-20, Fields had his best season as a pro in 2023. He set career-highs in completion percentage (61.4 percent) and passing yards (2,562), while also having the lowest interception (2.4 percent) and sack rates (10.6 percent) of his career.

He's shown improvement every season and might be better positioned to help the Bears reach the playoffs in 2024, but Chicago must consider its long-term future. Does it believe Fields will have a better pro career than Williams or North Carolina's Drake Maye, another quarterback prospect who could potentially go No. 1 overall?

If so, then it should trade the No. 1 pick. But if Chicago thinks Williams or Maye raises the team's ceiling, then Week 18 was likely Fields' final game as Bears quarterback.

He should have a strong value on the trade market, with teams including the Falcons, Giants, Raiders and Vikings all in need of a quarterback and, unlike the Commanders and Patriots, not in a position to draft one of 2024's top QB prospects.

Either way, Chicago is in an envious position with two top-10 picks in the upcoming draft. If it keeps Fields, the Bears could potentially add one of the top wide receiver prospects in the class - Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU's Malik Nabers or Washington's Rome Odunze - as well as either Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, who's received comparisons to 49ers tight end George Kittle, or one of the draft's elite edge prospects, such as UCLA's Laiatu Latu or Alabama's Dallas Turner.

If the latest mock drafts are correct and the Bears select Williams, they'll still be able to add enough talent around him that they could contend for a division title in 2024. 

Of course, for a franchise that infamously passed on two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes for 2020 Nickelodeon Valuable Player Mitchell Trubisky during the 2017 NFL Draft, we shouldn't blindly expect the Bears to get this decision right.

No matter what Chicago decides, it will be second-guessed the entire offseason.