After months of speculation, quarterback Justin Fields finally has a new home.
The Chicago Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick, the team announced Saturday.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the conditional sixth-round pick can become a fourth-round selection if Fields plays at least 51% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in 2024.
The Bears selected Fields with the No. 11 pick of the 2021 NFL draft to become their franchise quarterback. Fields struggled at times but flashed plenty of potential over three seasons, throwing for 40 touchdowns and 30 interceptions with an 82.3 passer rating in 40 career games (38 starts). He also added 2,220 yards rushing and 14 scores in his three years under center, showing that he had potential to be a dynamic dual-threat quarterback once he became more consistent through the air.
In 2023, Fields threw for a career-high 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions with an 86.3 passer rating across 13 contests. While Fields showed clear development in the passing game last season, it wasn’t enough to quell concerns about whether or not he was the right answer at quarterback in Chicago. Even with the improved passing numbers, the Bears finished third in the NFC North with a 7–10 record and missed the playoffs once again.
Fields’s future in Chicago became cloudy once the Bears landed the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft, which they acquired in a blockbuster trade last March when the Carolina Panthers traded up to select quarterback Bryce Young with the top pick.
With Fields now in Pittsburgh, Chicago now is expected to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick. USC star Caleb Williams is the consensus front-runner to be selected first, although North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels also are intriguing prospects at the position.
Fields joins a new-look quarterback room in Pittsburgh. The Steelers signed veteran Russell Wilson to a one-year contract earlier this week and traded former first-round pick Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday.
Fields will begin 2024 as Wilson’s backup, sources told Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer. He is entering the final season of his rookie contract and has a fifth-year option worth $25.7 million for the 2025 campaign.
