Much of the offseason leading up to free agency was spent writing about the various quarterbacks that the Pittsburgh Steelers were linked to, with just Kenny Pickett under contract. Two of the leading names were Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. And would you look at that, they ended up with both of them. News broke on Saturday evening of Fields being traded to the Steelers, and the trade compensation was decidedly less than most thought it would be. Just a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft that can conditionally become a fourth-round pick if Fields plays 51 percent or more of the snaps in 2024.
So how did this trade come to be, and did the Bears settle too early and rob themselves of maximum compensation? ESPN’s Adam Schefter appeared on SportsCenter to discuss the trade just a few hours after it took place on Saturday night.
“If you remember Michael, if we go back to the combine, the Bears’ general manager Ryan Poles said that they were going to try to do right by Justin Fields and get him situated in his new home by the time the new league year started,” Schefter said. “It was a soft trade market, as the compensation for him shows, and the Bears felt they were doing right by Justin Fields.”
Just a couple of weeks ago, many were speculating as high as a second-round pick in return for Fields. But as the quarterback market shook out in free agency, it became increasingly apparent that the market was very weak for his services. He is entering his contract year, after all, and whichever team received him would have to turn around and make a decision on his fifth-year option for 2025, which is worth $25,664,000 fully guaranteed if exercised.
That, and the limited number of quarterback openings, paired with the other available QBs on the market, like Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson, really diminished his value on the open market. Poles said shortly after the trade that several teams were in talks this past week. So, even with multiple teams interested, a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick was all they could get.
“The Bears were not worried about the compensation. They thought they were doing right by the young man,” Schefter said. “Just never found the market they wanted, and ultimately, in the end, they believed that Pittsburgh was the right landing spot.”
If they were trying to maximize value, the best option might have been to wait out the offseason, draft Caleb Williams, and then find a trade partner once injuries start hitting in training camp or early in the season. But that would have created at least some distractions for their projected first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, as well as unfairly limit Fields’ opportunities to get settled with a team during his contract season.
Fields’ trade market tells you all you need to know about the fifth-year option. Nobody was looking to pick that up at such a steep price. With Wilson looking to play in Pittsburgh beyond just his one-year deal, Fields very well could choose to negotiate with teams next offseason as a free agent. Or, he could agree that Pittsburgh is the right landing place, accept his role as a backup to learn under Wilson and work towards being the quarterback of the future for the Steelers with Wilson at 35 years old.
Almost like what Pickett probably should have done before he reportedly requested his way out of town.
