The Chicago Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick from a previous trade with the Carolina Panthers, and with USC’s Caleb Williams available, the Bears parted ways with QB Justin Fields, sending him to the Steelers just over a week ago. Speaking to reporters at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando, Bears general manager Ryan Poles said that trading Fields was “probably one of the harder things” he’s had to do.
“I know I always kind of touch on the empathy part, having that conversation with my own son was hard, his jersey’s up in his room. So kind of puts that into perspective of how difficult those moves are,” Poles said via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times on Twitter.
Fields was supposed to be the future in Chicago, taken 11th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, but instead, he never really was able to find his footing and after just three seasons was shipped out. If the Bears didn’t hold the top pick this year, the circumstances might be different as Fields has shown some flashes, but in a top-heavy quarterback class featuring a prospect like Williams, the Bears decided to reset at the quarterback position.
Chicago’s loss is Pittsburgh’s gain. The Steelers add an experienced backup with some upside in case things go topsy turvy with Russell Wilson, whom Mike Tomlin said yesterday is in “pole position” for the starting job. It wouldn’t have made sense for Fields to sit behind Williams in Chicago, and there’s very little chance that Fields would’ve beaten out Williams for the starting job just for the fact that Chicago would want to get Williams on the field early and he’s a fairly pro-ready prospect.
In Pittsburgh, he’ll have a better opportunity behind the 35-year-old Wilson, who hasn’t played his best football over the last two seasons although the Steelers will look to get the most out of him. Trading Fields was a tough decision for a franchise and on a fan base in Chicago that had a lot of faith in him turning around what’s become a moribund franchise after the Double Doink and the failures of Mitch Trubisky, who was supposed to be the future before Fields, but it just never worked out the way that the Bears had hoped.
While it may have been a tough decision and one that Poles’ son may not have liked, it was best for both Fields and Chicago to move on. Now Fields will get a chance to revive his career with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.
