Courtney Cronin of ESPN stated the Chicago Bears turned down a bigger trade offer from another team for Justin Fields because the team felt compelled to send him somewhere he had a chance to develop properly. The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the stablest organizations in the league. If he can thrive there, he won’t thrive anywhere. Yet some wonder how much more significant that offer was. If the Bears turned down a 3rd round pick for Fields, that feels like business malpractice. In reality, it probably wasn’t more than a 4th round pick at most.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune shared details on how things went down. The harsh reality is that the market dictates the price. From everything gathered, one thing was clear. Fields wasn’t viewed as a starter by most of the NFL. He was a high-end backup; you don’t trade considerable resources for backups. Biggs provided a glaring picture of how bad it was. From what he understands, the buzz around Fields was so quiet that another quarterback actually generated more excitement.
And it’s nowhere close to who you’re thinking of.
“Could general manager Ryan Poles have done better? Perhaps. But as quarterback jobs were filled around the league, other teams told the Bears how they felt about Fields. The New York Giants signed Drew Lock, who reportedly is going to compete for the starting job. The Las Vegas Raiders scooped up Gardner Minshew. The Philadelphia Eagles, who have an athletic starter in Jalen Hurts in an offense that would seemingly fit Fields, traded with the Steelers for Kenny Pickett, opening a spot for Fields in Pittsburgh.
The Washington Commanders signed Marcus Mariota. The Minnesota Vikings grabbed Sam Darnold. The Buffalo Bills brought back Mitch Trubisky. The Jacksonville Jaguars traded for Mac Jones. The Tennessee Titans signed Mason Rudolph. The Arizona Cardinals traded with the Atlanta Falcons for Desmond Ridder, and one source said there was more chatter in league circles about Ridder than Fields.”
Justin Fields is probably a humbled young man right now.
His self-confidence has never been questioned. It is a big reason why he managed to improve slightly over the past two years despite turbulent circumstances around him. That said, the improvement doesn’t seem to have impressed anybody beyond Bears fans. Other NFL teams see a great athlete who was middling as a passer for most of his career. They weren’t willing to gamble their available starting jobs on him suddenly figuring things out. In the end, the Bears chose to take a modest return while giving him a decent chance to land on his feet in Pittsburgh.
Chicago’s future appears in good shape regardless. They have nine picks waiting in the 2025 draft and hold the #1 pick this year. If the team does their quarterback evaluations right for once, they will end up with somebody better than Justin Fields. Nobody wanted to see him fail, least of all the organization. Sadly, that is how things pan out far more often than not. Fields fell in the 2021 draft for a reason. Teams had reservations about his ability as a passer. Those reservations proved accurate.
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Here’s hoping he eventually figures them out.
Back in the day, Biggs also reported that Chicago would not trade for Khalil Mack the week before Chicago traded for Khalil Mack. Take this information for whatever you believe it’s worth.
Well, let’s look at some of these other teams – Oakland has Gardner Mineshew? Eagles took Pickett. Pittsburgh has Wilson who I think is wash? Denver has no one.These are supposed to be “smart” organizations? (well maybe not Oakland….)
Did you hear?
Ryan Poles got a sixth-round pick from the Steelers — in 2025!
And all Poles lost was Justin Fields.
[“Ryan Poles is an inept judge of NFL talent, proficiency and value.”]
I’m surprised at all the whining about the Fields trade but I guess I shouldn’t be. Apparently a lot of fans felt “emotionally” invested in this QB. I rooted for him hard and hoped he’d turn the corner but he just didn’t. I believe he will someday. I think he’s needing an environmental change. Most of us have experienced a point in life where we didn’t think we could change and yet we did…eventually. I believe that’s the transformation Fields must go through in order to hack his high ceiling. No one is owed anything in the NFL. It’s the… Read more »
@Bubba Ho-Tep…well how did it all turn out??? Oh yeah exactly the opposite of everything you just said. You cultist are embarrassing. You sound like a whiney little bitch that just got her cherry popped on prom night and dumped the next day. Stop embarrassing yourself and go wave the terrible(no pun intended) towel now. In another few months you will get ANOTHER we told you so.