The Pittsburgh Steelers have now officially completed a Saturday trade with the Chicago Bears with the primary part of that being them acquiring QB Justin Fields, a former first round draft pick out of Ohio State. As part of the Bears announcing the trade being official on the team’s website, their GM, Ryan Foles, included a short statement.
“We have engaged in multiple trade conversations in recent weeks and believe trading Justin at this time to Pittsburgh is what is best for both Justin and the Bears,” Poles said in his Saturday statement. “Today we spoke to Justin to inform him of the trade and the rationale behind it for us as a club. We want to thank him for his tireless dedication, leadership and all he poured into our franchise and community the last three years and wish him the best towards a long and successful NFL career.”
It has been long known that the Bears were going to trade Fields this offseason and especially with them expected to select USC QB Caleb Williams first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. At the 2024 Scouting Combine a few weeks ago, Poles indicated that he hoped to get the trading away of Fields done as soon as possible. While that hasn’t been that long ago, several other young quarterbacks around the league were traded to other teams ahead of Fields being dealt on Saturday.
Young quarterbacks traded so far this offseason include Mac Jones, Desmond Ridder, Sam Howell and Kenny Pickett, the Steelers first round selection in 2024 NFL Draft.
Jones was traded by the New England Patriots to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick.
Ridder was traded by the Atlanta Falcons to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for wide receiver Rondale Moore.
Howell was traded by the Washington Commanders to the Seattle Seahawks along with a fourth-round pick (No. 102 overall) and a sixth-round pick (No. 179) in the 2024 NFL draft in exchange for a 2024 third-rounder (No. 78) and a 2024 fifth-rounder (No. 152).
As for Pickett, the Steelers traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles along with a 2024 fourth-round pick (No. 120) in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick (No. 98) and two conditional 2025 seventh-round picks.
Early in the offseason, it was widely speculated that the Bears would get a nice return for Fields and possibly a package of draft picks that included either a second or third rounder. As the weeks progressed, however, and once free agency got underway and the dominos started to fall at the quarterback position, it started to become evident that Fields’ trade value would likely bottom out. Boy, did it bottom out.
The Steelers essentially stole Fields away from the Bears as all they had to give up was a conditional sixth-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. That selection, however, will become a fourth-round pick if Fields plays in 51 percent or more of the plays this season with the Steelers.
According to Courtney Cronin, who covers the Bears for ESPN, in addition to the Steelers, there were five other teams that reached out to Chicago to gauge their interest on a Fields trade, but the majority of those teams envisioned Fields as a backup. Chicago, according to her report, wanted to use the parameters of the 2021 Sam Darnold trade (2021 6th, 2022 2nd and 4th) for compensation but had to shift towards a different return after that asking price didn’t get bites from inquiring teams.
This is the second trade that Steelers GM Omar Khan has made with the Bears and Foles. The previous trade between the two NFL general managers happened just ahead of the 2022 season deadline. That trade consisted of the Steelers trading WR Chase Claypool to the Bears in exchange for their second-round pick (No. 32) in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers ultimately used that second-round selection on CB Joey Porter Jr.
