Grading the Bears’ Decision to Trade Justin Fields

The Chicago Bears traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday for a 2025 sixth-round pick that can become a fourth-round pick if he plays 51% of the Steelers snaps in 2024. It was a trade that had long been expected, but until it actually happened, there remained doubt within the Bears’ fanbase that Fields would be sent packing.

Fields joined the Bears as a first-round pick, No. 11 overall, in 2020. He started 38 games during his Bears’ tenure, finishing 10-28 in those contests and never truly emerging as a bonafide high-level starter in the league.

Still, Justin Fields had many special moments during his time in Chicago, including the 2022 season, when he nearly broke the single-season rushing record for a quarterback. He finished that year with 1,143 rushing yards.

Fields’ fate appeared sealed when the Bears secured the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, thanks to the Carolina Panthers finishing as the worst team in the league. The Panthers traded their first-rounder to Chicago for the right to select Bryce Young in the 2023 draft. With Caleb Williams viewed by many talent evaluators as a generational quarterback prospect, it became a foregone conclusion that general manager Ryan Poles would make the former Heisman Trophy Winner “his guy.”

Poles made the right decision in trading Justin Fields, and it’s not because Fields isn’t a good quarterback. There remains a good chance Fields will become a quality starter in the NFL. Williams, however, can be great, and you don’t settle for a quality starter if you can draft a great one.

In short, Fields was a victim of timing. Had the Chicago Bears not ended this season with the first overall pick, Fields would have been the starting quarterback in 2024. But they did, and he isn’t.

As for the trade compensation? A future sixth-round pick that can become as high as a fourth-rounder might seem like the Bears gave Fields away, but remember: Poles said he wanted to do right by Fields. I don’t think the return on the trade was his priority. Once the Steelers traded Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles, an opportunity for Fields to win a starting job presented itself. And Poles, who appears to be a man of his word, stuck by it.

Yes, it would’ve been nice if the Bears got a second- or third-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft for Justin Fields. But the market simply wasn’t there, as most respected NFL insiders have been saying for quite some time. But the trade is still a win for the Bears because it paves the way for Caleb Williams, which was always the right choice.

It’s sad to see Fields go, but knowing Williams will soon arrive is exciting.

My grade for the trade is an A+. Justin Fields got what he deserved (a chance to play), and the Chicago Bears will get what they deserve, too: a franchise-changing quarterback.