Predicting where Jimmy Garoppolo, 5 other quarterbacks play in 2022

No. 1: Justin Fields is traded to Seahawks

This would be the blockbuster.

Justin Fields was one of the rookie quarterbacks many thought San Francisco could grab at No. 3 to replace Jimmy Garoppolo. Alas, it turned out to be Trey Lance, so that idea went off the table quickly, and the Bears subsequently enacted their own trade-up to grab Fields a few picks later.

Chicago, however, is a team in desperate need of a brand-new identity moving forward, no longer claiming the defensive laurels of the 1985 Super Bowl squad and one which certainly shouldn’t include head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace.

Few quarterbacks in the league can carry a team regardless of the supporting cast, yet Russell Wilson is surely one of them, and he’d help usher in a completely new identity for the Bears anyway.

Yet the only way such a deal would work is if a player like Fields would be sent back in exchange.

Probable? No, but there’s an example of teams moving on from quarterbacks after just one year, most recently the Arizona Cardinals with Josh Rosen following 2018, subsequently followed by the 2019 drafting of quarterback Kyler Murray and Rosen’s trade to the Dolphins.

Fields is nowhere near as bad as Rosen was, and he’s potentially on pace to become a solid quarterback, provided the supporting context is good enough.

For the Seahawks, getting a package from Chicago for Wilson that includes Fields would net a promising young signal-caller on a rookie deal, freeing up plenty of cap space to build a quality roster together to make the next era of Seattle football an intriguing one.

Yet one San Francisco can hopefully dominate for a change, unlike what transpired against Wilson for a decade.