All is right in the Windy City, as the Chicago Bears picked up their seventh win of the year with Sunday's hard-fought win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Bears are rolling right now, but the same can't be said for some former players.
Ex-Chicago quarterback Justin Fields was benched by the New York Jets in favor of Tyrod Taylor, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Going to the bench is never easy, but his bank account won't know the difference. New York handed Fields $30 million fully guaranteed when they signed him. The Leap's Jason B. Hirschhorn pointed out on X that if Fields doesn't play another snap for the Jets, he'll get $23,828.44 per passing yard.
And that's a pretty penny based on how the season has gone for Fields in 2025.
Former Bears QB Justin Fields' Jets Benching Isn't Surprise (Even if the Money Helps)
The Jets' offense has been lackluster through the air, and a ton of it has to do with Fields. New York is last in the NFL in passing offense (139.9), and Fields' numbers aren't much better. He's 29th in the league in passing yards (1,259) and passing touchdowns (7). His 67.3 offense and 65.5 passing grades are also 25th, according to Pro Football Focus.
This season, Fields has thrown for less than 60 passing yards in four games and is leaving a lot of opportunities on the field. There have been several plays where Fields has held onto the ball too long, leading to unnecessary sacks and incompletions. It's a surprise that it took New York this long to change things up.
Considering that the Jets are 2-8, flipped star defenders Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams ahead of the trade deadline for more draft capital, and how the offense has looked this season, they'll be looking for another QB this offseason.
Whether that comes via the NFL draft or trade remains to be seen, but the writing is on the wall for Fields. He hasn't been able to showcase that he can be a quality starter in the league. He's had troubles in Chicago and Pittsburgh, and now those same problems have carried over to the Jets.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey were looking to see what things would look like with Fields under center, and they banked on his traits and athleticism when giving him this money. And unfortunately for them, the Fields experiment ended after nine games, as the Jets have reached the same realization that the Bears did last year.
This could have very well been the last team that looked to make Fields the starter. Things haven't been able to click for him in the NFL, and, eventually, the league is going to come to terms that he is who he is at this point.
At the ex-Bear's $30 million safety net will help cushion his latest fall from grace.