Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield shares advice for Bears' Justin Fields

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield spoke during an NFL Network appearance about the awkward situation Chicago Bears signal-caller Justin Fields finds himself in this offseason. 

"For Justin, it’s not a very fun position to be in," Mayfield said, as shared by Luis C. Medina of Bleacher Nation and Luke Easterling of Bears Wire/USA Today. "So you just have to control what you can. Be the guy there for your teammates and your family around you that’s going to be consistent no matter what you’re going through knowing that his opportunities in the NFL aren’t over. He can still make the most of it, whatever’s next for him."

Mayfield was recovering from shoulder surgery when the Cleveland Browns actively pursued Deshaun Watson in March 2022. Cleveland ultimately landed Watson from the Houston Texans, and the club traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers that summer. 

Mayfield flopped with Carolina but more recently earned a nice payday after he guided the 2023 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a division title and a playoff win. 

As for Fields, he likely understands the Bears remain on track to make USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams the first pick of this year's draft later this spring. 

Multiple reporters have shot down any idea that Chicago could keep both Fields and Williams on the roster through training camp even though no team has yet offered the Bears anything of note for the 2021 first-round choice. 

For a piece published on Thursday morning, Field Yates of ESPN said that "there has been no inclination the Bears are likely to keep Fields as their offensive focal point going forward and eschew taking a quarterback at No. 1 overall (or trade the pick altogether)." 

Yates added that "it would still seem logical that Chicago would accept an offer that it deems reasonable" for Fields. 

On Wednesday, Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus named the New York Giants as a "wild-card" team that could make a move for Fields.

"For me, looking back on it now, I can say that if you control exactly who you are in the locker room, around your guys, the people you truly work with and you’re around, you control that and you can be proud of that and how you operated, then it just wasn’t meant to be," Mayfield said about the final months, weeks and days of his Cleveland tenure that ran from 2018 through the 2021 season. "So, for me, it took me a long time to understand that. From a guy who always thought I was in control, I wasn’t. So I had to trust God’s plan on that one and just make the most of whatever opportunity came next. Now, sitting here, it’s crazy to look back on."