The Chicago Bears finally traded quarterback Justin Fields earlier this month, and general manager Ryan Poles says that it was not an easy thing to do.
“Justin, probably one of the harder things I’ve had to do,” Poles said, via Patrick Finley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I always kind of touch on the empathy part, like having that conversation with my own son was hard. His jersey’s up in his room. So, it kind of puts that into perspective of how difficult those moves are.”
Poles said that he went to head coach Matt Eberflus’ house so that he and Eberflus could call Fields together to inform him that he was being dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bears received a conditional sixth-round draft pick in return from the Steelers.
Fields, who played his collegiate football at Ohio State, was selected by Chicago with the 11th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. For the most part, things did not work out for the signal-caller in the Windy City, as he went just 10-28 as a starter.
The 25-year-old did show some flashes of brilliance along the way, especially this past season. But, with the Bears owning the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft and seeming intent on selecting USC’s Caleb Williams, they really had no choice but to send Fields packing.
“There was a choppy start in his rookie year,” Poles said. “And when I came in, we had some cleaning up to do, which delayed another year of adding talent and supporting. And then in terms of the game, I feel like he was making strides and improving. … It’s really the timeline and how much runway you have. Because to get a guy up off the ground, you need to support him with as much talent as possible. And then that flips because it takes so much cap space.”
Fields made 13 starts in 2023, missing four games due to a dislocated thumb. During the time he was on the field, he threw for 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 61.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.3. He also rushed for 657 yards and four scores.
He will now head to Pittsburgh, where he will begin the next chapter of his career as Russell Wilson’s backup. However, with Wilson being 35 years old, Justin Fields may have a chance to become the Steelers’ starting quarterback sooner rather than later.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
