After months of speculation and rumors that the Bears wouldn’t actually take a QB with the No. 1 overall pick, Chicago called it quits and acquired QB Justin Fields in a trade. pittsburgh steelers A conditional 2025 sixth-round pick that could turn into a fourth-round pick depending on playing time. Fields and Chicago get a fresh start, and Pittsburgh can get a true QB to put pressure on Russell Wilson at low risk.
So who wins in this deal? Now, let’s score and see.
Chicago Bears: B-
Bears and Fields had to split up. Chicago never got a chance to take the No. 1 overall quarterback again, and both players needed a fresh start. On the one hand, Chicago should feel lucky to get a 2025 third-day pick in this trade, but somehow Chicago feels like they overshot the market with the Fields deal in the first place. It does. If they had lowered the price from Fields’ 2024 second-day pick, they might have been able to acquire this year’s draft pick free of charge. In any case, I think this is a passing score. Because this was a necessary split for both sides, and Chicago now gets a QB for 1. Matt Eberflus and Ryan Pauls have no more excuses.
Pittsburgh Steelers: A
The Steelers changed their QB room from Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. It’s a pretty good deal, especially considering the risks for both are pretty low. According to Adam Schefter, if Fields plays at least 51% of the snaps this season, his conditional No. 6 will become No. 4. Given Wilson’s talent for avoiding major injuries, the only thing holding Fields back from it is the Russ project not working out. Still, it’s a one-year deal for Wilson, so there’s not much of a risk. Pittsburgh has until May 2nd to decide what to do with Fields’ fifth-year option, but for now Fields can sit behind Russ and if Wilson stinks, give Fields a shot and do something. I will have to prove it. It’s a low-risk, high-reward move for the Steelers.
