I want to be Justin Fields when I grow up – not for the money but for the limitless free passes. OK, maybe for the money, too.
The former Bears quarterback recently agreed to a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets, $30 million of which is guaranteed. That money is coming his way despite a lack of success in Chicago and Pittsburgh. The Jets apparently can’t believe their luck. How did he slip past every other quarterback-needy team? One former Jets official told ESPN that Fields “may be the best, total-athletic QB in club history.’’
Some of the quarterbacks in the team’s 65-year annals: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chad Pennington, Vinny Testaverde, Boomer Esiason, Ken O’Brien … tell me when to stop. Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback Fields will be replacing, is 41.
But the total-athlete talk – that’s the heart of it all, isn’t it? It’s the eternal tease when it comes to Fields. Some teams can’t let go of what they think he might be, can be, should be. It’s as if what they imagine is more real than what they see. That he’s crazy athletic is indisputable. The trend in the NFL favors quarterbacks with speed and arm strength. Unfortunately for Fields and the teams he has played for, that hasn’t translated into good quarterback play.
The most amazing part of the Fields story – and the reason I wouldn’t mind trading places with him once I reach emotional maturity – is that, despite a less-than-stellar career, he still leads the league in excuses made for him. This dates back to the start of his career in Chicago in 2021, when it immediately became clear that, if he was struggling, it had to be somebody else’s fault. The excuse-making hasn’t stopped. The thinking goes like this: The Bears failed to properly coach their first-round pick, first under Matt Nagy and then under Matt Eberflus. That, we’ve been endlessly told, stunted his growth as a quarterback, to the point where it’s a miracle he can still walk and throw a football at the same time. And what about Fields’ one season in Pittsburgh? We’re told that the Steelers would know more about ancient stone tools than quarterbacks.
(It’s funny that Fields’ coaches at Ohio State don’t carry any responsibility for his NFL struggles. Or that Fields himself doesn’t have to assume any responsibility.)
When it finally dawned on the Bears that he wasn’t what they thought he was going to be and that they should trade him, media predictions had the team getting a first- or second-round pick in return for the QB. Instead, the Steelers gave them a 2025 sixth-round pick. Because that’s what he was worth.
The Jets are here to tell us, wait, no, he’s much more than that! They see a quarterback who can run. They see a quarterback with a strong arm. They surely see a quarterback with accuracy issues but believe Fields is worth the risk. Everybody thinks they can fix his issues, until they can’t.
In 2023, Fields’ last season with the Bears, his fourth-quarter passing stats were brutal: 51.1 completion percentage, three touchdowns, six interceptions and a 53.4 rating.
Pittsburgh gave Fields the starting job last year, then benched him when Russell Wilson returned from injury. Here are some words to live by: If Steelers coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t think a quarterback is good enough to start, he probably isn’t.
Still, the Jets are giving Fields $20 million a year in the hope he’ll finally figure things out. It’s not the bonanza that top quarterbacks get, but it should be enough to cover his subway fare.
It would be just Fields’ luck that, having been given a contract and a new opportunity, he’d find himself competing against one of the top rookie quarterbacks in training camp. The Jets have the seventh overall pick in next month’s draft, and there’s a chance that Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders will fall to their spot. If that happens, how quickly will the Jets say, “Justin Who?’’ In less than a second.
And how quickly will Fields’ many backers start blaming the Jets for not seeing the greatness inside the 26-year-old? In less than a second.
There’s a video circulating on social media of Fields celebrating with Micah Parsons, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts in Dubai. He looks like he’s enjoying himself. He should be. He’s about to get richer, and he already was fabulously rich.
I hope the new gig works out for him. I don’t think it will. The Jets won’t be very good in 2025. He’ll have his hands full with opposing defenses and the notoriously harsh New York media. But don’t worry about him. When his time with the Jets ends, another team will see something in him. That’s like the $30 million he’s due: guaranteed.