Chicago is on the clock! Carolina’s loss to Jacksonville guarantees Bears will get the FIRST pick of the 2024 NFL Draft… but will they keep Justin Fields or draft a promising young QB like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye?

The Chicago Bears have landed the first pick of next year’s draft after the Carolina Panthers lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars with USC quarterback Caleb Williams and North Carolina‘s Drake Maye being  tipped to replace quarterback Justin Fields, should he leave the Windy City.

The Bears fell to the playoff-hopeful Atlanta Falcons on Sunday to drop to 7-9 on the year, but Chicago gets the first pick in April by virtue of the Panthers’ league-worst 2-14 record thanks to a deal before the 2023 NFL Draft.

It was less than a year ago that the Panthers moved up in the draft to take Alabama quarterback Bryce Young first overall, relinquishing the No. 9 (Tennessee OT Darnell Wright) and No. 61 (Penn State TE Brenton Strange) picks, as well as their 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second rounder, and star wide receiver DJ Moore.

There were hopes that the Panthers could catch up to the Arizona Cardinals (4-12) with two games to spare before the postseason but with this weekend’s defeat and Jonathan Gannon’s men upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles, 35-31, that is considered to now be mathematically impossible.

Fields threw for 268 yards with a touchdown pass and a rushing TD in what could be his final home game for Chicago. He completed 20 of 32 passing attempts and ran for 45 yards with his future as murky as ever, as he has yet to agree to terms on a new deal, with his four-year, $18.8million rookie contract expiring in 2025.