I would wait until all frost danger has passed.

even though they are outside getting hit with frost in a plastic pot?

they were in a pot all last winter during frosts and even a few days of snow. they were fine in the spring - got a couple baby figs off them.

Well, my climate is Mediterranean, and I have many figs that never even went dormant. We planted 3 figs (3 gal pots) in ground yesterday. They are sort of dormant, so we wanted to get them planted before active growth starts. I think you should wait till frost danger has passed. Even here, it's been known to throw us an odd freeze or two, but we didn't need to disturb the roots, and I'm thinking ours will be OK. Good luck to you.