The Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers have broken up once more. After just two seasons, the Steelers acquired quarterback Justin Fields from the Bears this past Saturday for former first-round choice cornerback Chase Claypool. Pittsburgh had previously acquired Fields for linebacker Joey Porter Jr. from Chicago.
The Bears have decided to move on from Fields after three seasons, and they’ll probably take former USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the April draft. Fields, who hopes to turn around his career following two difficult seasons in Denver, will be a valuable backup for the Steelers. After acquiring Wilson, Pittsburgh did not waste any time in trading veteran quarterback Kenny Pickett to Philadelphia for him.
The grades for this trade, which restricted NFL free agency in the first week, are listed below:
Chicago Bears:
There’s little doubt that the Bears have expressed their intention to trade Fields. During the NFL Combine last month, Ryan Poles, the general manager of Chicago, practically stated as much. Poles was unable to discover any proposals that he liked that came close to meeting the Bears’ criteria, so it’s obvious that they didn’t receive the kind of bids they were expecting for.
In the selection trade, Pittsburgh received the 98th overall pick in the third round of 2024, along with the Eagles’ selections in the seventh and fourth rounds (2025 and 2024, respectively, at number 120). It’s a mind-boggling fact that the Steelers received a significantly higher return for Fields than the Bears did.
ESPN reports that there is a possibility that the Bears’ fourth-round pick acquired in the trade will be a superior value if Fields plays 51% of Pittsburgh’s actions this season. But, since Wilson will be starting, Fields will need to either outperform Wilson or get injured in order to get any meaningful playing time.
Grade: D-
Pittsburgh Steelers:
This season, Fields and Wilson will cost the Steelers just under $4.5 million combined. Even with two quarterbacks, this is a foolish arrangement. Since the Steelers have already signed elite safety D’Shawn Elliot and starting center Patrick Queen, they will be able to add more players to their roster.
A week prior, Pittsburgh was preoccupied with finding its opponent, and the selection remained linked to the team’s starting quarterback. All right, so there will be no more games in Pittsburgh, not with Wilson starting and Fields supporting him. Fields, though, is fine with the position he’s walking into. Following the transaction, he expressed his excitement to others about his next ventures with Sports Illustrated.
Pittsburgh made a low-risk decision with this move. They acquired a quarterback with a ton of unrealized potential for relatively little money. Fields didn’t find success in Chicago, but he didn’t stop being outstanding. In 2022, he set a single-season record for the most throwing yards by a quarterback in NFL history.
