Justin Fields Trade Rumors: Unknown Team Made Better Offer to Bears Than Steelers Did
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZucker
Featured Columnist IVMarch 17, 2024
The Chicago Bears didn't take the best offer on the table for quarterback Justin Fields, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
The Bears confirmed Saturday they agreed to trade Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025. The pick can become a fourth-rounder if certain parameters are met.
In addressing the move, general manager Ryan Poles said the team did "what is best for both Justin and the Bears."
Cronin reported Chicago made a conscious effort to consider the situation into which it would be sending Fields.
"A source told ESPN that five teams in addition to Pittsburgh reached out to Chicago, and the majority of those teams had envisioned the former first-round pick in a backup role," she wrote.
"... The Bears had an additional offer with stronger draft capital from a team with an established starter, per a source, but chose to send Fields to Pittsburgh with the hope of putting the 25-year-old in a position to continue his development—first as a backup to [Russell] Wilson and eventually as a starter."
Courtney Cronin @CourtneyRCroninFrom <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SportsCenter</a>: The Bears were waiting for the right team, time to move Justin Fields. Though they'd hoped for a better market and return, here's why sending Fields to Pittsburgh now vs. dragging this out to the draft in hopes of finding a partner was the direction Chicago… <a href="https://t.co/X8706yREsx">pic.twitter.com/X8706yREsx</a>
Poles told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in February that "I want to do right by Justin" regarding a trade. He did just that under the circumstances by sending Fields to the Steel City.
Wilson is the obvious favorite to be the Week 1 starter for the Steelers, but trading Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles left them without a viable backup or a long-term quarterback solution.
It's not as though the current version of Wilson is guaranteed to remain the starter for the entirety of the 2024 season, either. If the 35-year-old struggles out of the gate, head coach Mike Tomlin probably won't hesitate to make a change.
The way the quarterback market shook out in free agency made it increasingly tough to envision a scenario where Fields could get traded to a team where he'd immediately be installed as the starter.
With that in mind, Pittsburgh was probably his optimal landing spot, and it looks like the Bears made some small concessions to get in there.