The Justin Fields era in Chicago is finally over.
Fields was traded to the Steelers on Saturday for just a 2025 sixth-round pick, one that can convert to a fourth-round pick based on Fields' playing time.
The Bears may not be getting that fourth-round pick, since Adam Schefter reported that Russell Wilson will start in Pittsburgh, with Fields backing him up.
Lest you forgot, the Steelers just signed Wilson several days ago, then traded away Kenny Pickett to the Eagles, and now they bring in Fields. Pittsburgh's quarterback room has had a busy week!
It certainly feels like the Bears are selling low.
Just a sixth-round pick? Even a fourth-rounder, if it converts to that, doesn't feel like much for a quarterback with such dazzling highlights. You have to wonder if Chicago could have gotten more if it had at least waited until the draft to see if another suitor emerged.
I made the case both for and against Fields as a starting NFL quarterback a week ago. He's a spectacular runner, but the accuracy that was so strong at Ohio State as a passer hasn't translated to the pros.
I even wrote in that article that I wasn't sure Fields was the right quarterback for a team like Pittsburgh, one hoping to make a run at the playoffs right now.
But this is another move entirely. At the time, we expected Fields might garner a third- or even second-round pick via trade. This is not that. This is a starting caliber quarterback — we need 32, after all! — coming over for the price of some 200th draft pick you've never heard of and likely never will.
So what is Pittsburgh doing with all these quarterback moves?
It seems confusing at first, but it really isn't.
Neither Wilson nor Fields was a good NFL starter last season. Only two quarterbacks had at least 100 interceptions plus sacks over the past two seasons, and Pittsburgh now rosters both guys.
That said, both Wilson and Fields are clearly better options right now than Pickett, Mason Rudolph or any other quarterback on Pittsburgh's roster. Again, they're probably something like the 20th- or 25th-best option right now, but the reality is that that's a guess too — and one of them may end up 40th or 50th but the other could have a nice season and be 10th- or 15th-best.
Now Pittsburgh has two rolls of the dice instead of one. And both sets of dice were borderline free! It's a no-brainer.
Fields is a pretty intriguing fit with Arthur Smith too. Smith has always loved a mobile quarterback and made the most of Ryan Tannehill and Marcus Mariota, so there's a chance Fields blossoms and becomes Pittsburgh's quarterback of the future. He could even be the quarterback of the present by midseason.
If he is, great! Pittsburgh will happily sacrifice a fourth-round pick. If not, what has Pittsburgh lost? Very little, in either Wilson or Fields, and the Steelers are just right back where they started this offseason.
It's an intriguing quarterback duo to say the least, and the magic is that it gives Pittsburgh two bites at the apple. That's never a bad thing for the most important position in football.
