The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to acquire former Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields to add to a completely overhauled QB room for 2024.
Pittsburgh will send Chicago a conditional 2025 6th round pick which can convert to a 4th rounder based on playing time to acquire the 25 year old signal caller. The deal allows Chicago to officially move onto the next chapter of their franchise by selecting a quarterback 1st overall in the upcoming NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Fields will now join the recently acquired Russell Wilson in the Steel City following the team’s trade of Kenny Pickett to Philadelphia.
While the return is most certainly underwhelming for Chicago, the Bears can now focus on selecting the quarterback of their choosing on April 25th to pair with WR1 DJ Moore, and the newly acquired Keenan Allen. Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels are all viable candidates to go first overall at the NFL Draft, and they’ll find themselves in a much better position in terms of the roster around them than their predecessor.
Chicago has also added RB D’Andre Swift, and TE Gerald Everett, and will rely on further development from 2nd year tackle Darnell Wright to help insulate whomever their new quarterback ends up being. The team also holds the 9th overall pick this spring, allowing them to add another impact piece to their new look offence if they so choose.
On the other side of the equation, Pittsburgh gets a free look at a former top prospect in Fields, with no pressure on him to step in and perform immediately. Initial reports from the team are that the former Buckeye will not be expected to compete for the starting job, but rather learn under Russell (signed for the veteran minimum) throughout the 2024 campaign.
Fields will join the Steelers for a pittance in terms of draft capital, and can develop in the Steelers system for a full season under someone with a skill set not unlike his own. This will allow the team to seamlessly transition to Fields in 2025 if they believe there’s a mutual fit for both parties.
The Georgia native threw for 2,562 yards and 16 TDs across 13 games in 2023, adding in 657 yards and 4 scores on the ground for good measure. A dual threat quarterback, Fields was able to rack up an eye popping 1,143 yards on the ground in 2022, but has largely stagnated in Chicago under head coach Matt Eberflus.
Gone are Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and offensive coordinator Matt Canada and in are Wilson, Fields and new OC Arthur Smith. To say that the Steelers will have a new look to the offence in 2024 is now officially an understatement.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: The ozone. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.