What does the Fields trade say about the Jets’ chances of trading Zach Wilson?
On Saturday, news broke that the Chicago Bears had traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 6th round pick in the 2025 NFL draft that could raise to a 4th round pick.
Trade condition update: The 2025 6th-round pick that the Steelers traded to the Bears for Justin Fields will become a 4th-round pick if he plays in 51 percent of the plays this season, per source. https://t.co/mwHyivli7I
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2024
At face value, a trade was made between an NFC North team and an NFL South team, so why would that matter for the New York Jets?
Well, because Justin Fields is a quarterback who struggled after being selected in the 1st round of the 2021 NFL draft. The Jets currently have a player exactly like that: Zach Wilson. Wilson is also on the trade market, so this should give some idea of what the Jets could reasonably ask from a buyer.
Beyond that, most would say that Fields has been better than Zach Wilson. This would seemingly set the high-end bar for what the Jets could fetch for Wilson, meaning less than a 6th round pick at the base salary.
While this would be a small amount of trade compensation, it would still save the Jets around $5 million in cap space. This alone could be enough for the Jets to settle for a deal significantly less than what the Bears got for Fields and still call the trade a win. If nothing else, that cap space could be spent on another player rather than a 3rd string quarterback.
What do you think? Will the Jets receive more or less than a 6th round pick for Zach Wilson?