NFL trade grades, 2024 offseason: Steelers ace Justin Fields deal; Giants hit on Brian Burns
Bears receive:
2025 conditional sixth-round pick
The Steelers get the best grade I can give out for highway robbery. They acquired a quality quarterback at a bargain-basement price. A mattress store would be jealous of that deal. Not only did the Steelers give up a lone Day 3 pick, but it isn’t even in this year’s draft. If Fields plays enough, that pick could turn into a fourth-rounder. So if Fields become their next starter, he will have cost the Steelers a fourth-rounder next year. That’s good business.
Fields has flaws but remains a dynamic player who has shown signs of growth in each of his three seasons. He’s the type of talent that deserves second and third chances. Some aspects of his move to Pittsburgh remind me of when Ryan Tannehill exited Miami for Tennessee to originally “back up” Marcus Mariota. It didn’t take long for Tannehill to flip that script, enjoy Comeback Player of the Year honors and help Tennessee win multiple division crowns. Fields offers that sort of upside. How it shakes out with Russell Wilson — who “has pole position” in the chase for the top job in Pittsburgh, according to Mike Tomlin — remains to be seen. But good teams continue to take swings on quarterbacks, not shying away if they miss.
Chicago got a “plus” added to its grade based solely on the humanity of the move. The Bears sent Fields to a preferred destination where he has a better shot to actually play. It’s good PR for GM Ryan Poles. The Bears also avoided putting presumptive No. 1 pick Caleb Williams in an awkward spot, having to answer questions about Fields’ presence in the locker room after the draft.
From that perspective, a trade makes sense, but, woof, the return on a former first-round quarterback was poor. Poles appeared to misread the market early or didn’t want to wait to create one later. Not wanting his rookie quarterback to enter a locker room that still featured another QB who’d drawn outspoken support from teammates is one thing. Shipping the incumbent out for the equivalent of a middle seat in the back of coach that has a chance to become a middle seat in business class is something quite different.
The Bears could have hung onto Fields into the draft (as the Cardinals did with Josh Rosen, who was traded after Kyler Murray was selected in 2019) or even into the summer (Baker Mayfield wasn’t traded from Cleveland until July of 2022) to see if a better market would surface. An injury to a starter could have created a need. Might doing so have caused some uncomfortable conversations and angst? Sure. In a league that constantly talks about “business being business,” perhaps we should praise Poles for opting to calm the mental strain on the entire locker room, but the return likely suffered for it.
