Justin Fields trade grades: Steelers earn high mark after acquiring QB from Bears for 2025 sixth-round pick

Once again, the Pittsburgh Steelers have fleeced the Chicago Bears in a trade. On Saturday, the Steelers acquired quarterback and former first-round pick Justin Fields from the Bears for a 2025 sixth-round pick, less than two years after Pittsburgh traded Chase Claypool to Chicago in exchange for a pick the Steelers ultimately used to draft cornerback Joey Porter Jr. 

After three seasons, the Bears are moving on from Fields and will surely use the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft to select former USC quarterback Caleb Williams. The Steelers will reportedly have Fields back up Russell Wilson, who is hoping to reboot his career following two rocky seasons in Denver. Pittsburgh traded former starting quarterback Kenny Pickett to Philadelphia shortly after signing Wilson. 

Below are grades for the trade that capped off a wild first week of NFL free agency. 

Bears 

The Bears wanting to trade Fields hasn’t exactly been a secret. Chicago general manager Ryan Poles basically said as much last month during the NFL Combine. It’s clear, based on what the Bears got in exchange for Fields, that Poles did not receive anywhere close to the offers that he was hoping for. 

Consider what Pittsburgh got in the Pickett trade: a 2024 third-round pick (No. 98 overall) and two 2025 seventh-round picks while giving the Eagles Pickett and a 2024 fourth-round pick (No. 120). The fact that the Steelers got considerably more for Pickett than the Bears did for Fields is nothing short of mind boggling. 

It’s worth noting that pick the Bears acquired in this trade will improve to a fourth-round pick if Fields plays 51% percent of Pittsburgh’s offense plays this season, according to ESPN. But with Wilson entrenched as the starter, that would require either an injury to Wilson or Fields replacing him for a performance-based reason. 

Grade: D- 

Steelers 

The Steelers will spend less than $4.5 million this…

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Author : Bryan DeArdo

Publish date : 2024-03-16 23:48:45

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