Despite yesterday’s stunning trade that sent Justin Fields from the Bears to the Steelers, the recently-signed Russell Wilson will remain in place as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, head coach Mike Tomlin reached out to Wilson before the trade was finalized to let the nine-time Pro Bowler know that his job is safe.
And, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wilson and the Steelers are interested in a multiyear arrangement. While Pittsburgh is paying Wilson the veteran minimum on his one-year deal for 2024 — the Broncos are picking up the rest of Wilson’s $39MM tab — player and team are already planning to explore a “longer deal” at the the end of the season.
It would seem a bit premature to make those types of plans. After all, while Wilson’s second year in Denver was much better than his first, his brief stint with the Broncos was generally a disappointing one. And even if the Steelers do not exercise Fields’ fifth-year option for 2025, it is certainly possible that he impresses enough over the course of the upcoming year to convince Tomlin — long rumored to be a Fields fan — that his newest acquisition is worthy of a new contract and a starting role. Plus, Wilson will be 36 by the end of the 2024 campaign, while Fields just turned 25.
Nonetheless, the fact that these reports are even circulating is evidence of the Steelers’ faith in Wilson. And considering that the club is committing so little salary to him and was able to acquire Fields for a sixth-round draft choice — which will only become a fourth-rounder if Fields plays 51% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps in 2024 — the Fields trade will have been worth it even if he simply plays out the season as a high-end insurance policy for Wilson and heads elsewhere next year.
It was not too long ago that Dulac and other Steelers beats unequivocally wrote that the team would not pursue an external addition (like Wilson and Fields) who was eyeing a QB1 role. Per Pro Football Talk, those reports were correct when they were published, but the club has dramatically changed how its views the quarterback position over the past month. During that time, Pittsburgh saw Mason Rudolph sign with the Titans in free agency and subsequently traded Kenny Pickett to the Eagles. Whether Rudolph’s departure is what triggered the shift in organizational philosophy — Dulac et al. had suggested that Rudolph and Pickett could compete for the starting quarterback job in 2024 — is unclear, but one way or another, the Steelers have overhauled their QB room in a short amount of time, and for minimal cost.
Meanwhile, Chicago fans have Caleb Williams to look forward to in the near future, but the club is doubtlessly disappointed that it was unable to fetch a larger return for Fields, the No. 11 overall pick of the 2021 draft. We heard just last week that the Bears were not panicking even when the market for Fields did not develop as hoped, and as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk opines, the club should have continued exercising patience. If GM Ryan Poles was willing to accept a 2025 draft choice in exchange for Fields, he might have waited until the 2024 draft was over to see which teams were left without a passer. He might even have kept Fields on the roster, at least as a backup, and waited to collect a compensatory draft pick if and when Fields signed with a different club as a free agent next March.
Perhaps, as Florio suggests, Poles felt that he was doing the right thing for Fields by trading him sooner rather than later. Regardless of his rationale, Poles did confirm in a statement after the trade was announced that he had been exploring a deal for weeks.
The statement, issued by the club’s official X feed, reads, “We have engaged in multiple trade conversations in recent weeks and believe trading Justin at this time to Pittsburgh is what is best for both Justin and the Bears. Today we spoke to Justin to inform him of the trade and the rationale behind it for us as a Club. We want to thank him for his tireless dedication, leadership and all he poured into our franchise and community the last three years and wish him the best towards a long and successful NFL career.”
Per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, five teams contacted the Bears to dicuss a Fields trade, though all of those clubs viewed Fields as a backup. Poles had hoped that the 2021 trade that sent Sam Darnold from the Jets to the Panthers in exchange for a 2021 sixth-rounder, a 2022 second-rounder, and a 2022 fourth-rounder would provide a framework for a Fields deal, but at the time, Carolina clearly viewed Darnold as a starter. Since rival teams did not feel the same way about Fields, Poles elected to resolve the matter quickly and to start the Williams era with a clean slate.
