OT: Bears trade Justin Fields to Steelers for pack of toilet paper and a bag of chips

Submitted by UMxWolverines on March 16th, 2024 at 7:44 PM

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bears-trade-justin-fields-to-steelers-for-2025-sixth-round-pick-that-could-become-fourth-rounder/

I guess now it can be assumed that Chicago is taking a QB, most likely Caleb Williams unless they do something crazy and take JJ (hope to god not).

Chicago has now wasted their pick from 3 years ago, and to be honest I think Justin Fields in a better organization (Steelers definitely are) could be pretty good. 

I guess Pittsburgh now won't be taking a QB, and will plan on Fields sitting behind Russell Wilson for a year which is honestly not a bad plan. 

Team 101

March 16th, 2024 at 11:53 PM ^

It's a proud list.  Going back 50 years you have the following:

Gary Huff 

Bob Avellini 

Mike Phipps 

Vince Evans 

Jim McMahon 

Mike Tomczak

Jim Harbaugh 

Steve Walsh

Erik Kramer 

Dave Krieg 

Shane Matthews

Cade McNown 

Jim Miller 

Kordell Stewart 

Craig Krenzel 

Kyle Orton

Rex Grossman 

Jay Cutler 

Mitchell Trubisky 

Justin Fields 

If you include back-up QB's who started games you can add Doug Flutie, Greg Landry, RIck Mirer and other illustrious characters.

mi93

March 17th, 2024 at 12:24 AM ^

It’s easy to forget (and seems insane to consider) Rex Grossman took them to a Super Bowl.  And one-eyed McMahon won one. 

Frankly, many teams have a similar litany of clown car passengers (JH brings some of the crazy while undeniably upping the talent). 

ERdocLSA2004

March 16th, 2024 at 8:38 PM ^

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want Fields QB1 for my team but he’s taken an undeservedly amount of shit.  A 6th round pick?!  He is an elite athlete.  You could use him in some sort of a Taysom Hill role.  Or just let him sit for a year and refine his game.  The Steelers are trash but bravo to them to getting 2 QBs that are better than anyone on their roster for next to nothing.

42-27

March 16th, 2024 at 9:38 PM ^

The Steelers QB moves netted them:

-Russ, Fields, a 3rd rounder and two 7th rounders

In exchange for:

-Kenny Pickett, a 4th rounder and a 6th rounder

It may or may not work, but on paper, the Steelers GM absolutely cleaned up.  They went to the playoffs last year with arguably the worst QB play in the league.  They really just need average QB play this year to make noise.

RobM_24

March 17th, 2024 at 1:02 PM ^

The problem was that he was better when he was running for his life and getting flushed from the pocket. When teams sat back in zones with eyes on the QB and kept him in the pocket, he was inept. It was checkdown city bc he couldn't anticipate guys coming open in windows between zones. He had to see it then throw it, and teams would just let him have the checkdown. The pinnacle was the game against KC this year when he threw 22 times for 99 yards. They just contained the edges, kept him in the pocket, and let him bury himself. 

jmstranger

March 16th, 2024 at 7:52 PM ^

“I look at the guys that can operate third down, two-minute and the end of the game situations," Eberflus said. "To me that's a separator. And then you look at toughness. Toughness for a quarterback really is about the mental toughness to be able to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball, and also to have the discernment to be able to move out of the pocket and create when it's necessary”


This screams JJ McCarthy to me but what do I know?

Bo Harbaugh

March 16th, 2024 at 10:26 PM ^

Yeah, OSU has had a ton of busts at QB, but Fields seems to have not gotten a fair shake. 

Stroud is incredible and exceeded anything I thought possible for him - he might take a step back this year due to defenses "figuring him out" off game tape, but his arm talent, accuracy and touch are unreal.  He also gets through his reads and progressions a lot faster than expected for a rookie from an OSU system based on WRs simply being better than opponents.

As for Fields, he's not a great fit for most NFL teams, but he's also has some very unique talents.  He could be successful if a team goes all in on him, like Baltimore did with Lamar Jackson, but it's a big leap for any franchise to make such a decision.

Walmart Wolverine

March 17th, 2024 at 12:16 AM ^

Stroud is one guy who I got totally wrong.   That was mostly due to his affect wrt the Michigan games, his lack of mobility, and his inability to take a punch

Turns out that much of that may have been due to Ryan Day and not Stroud at all.

Given the recent history with Burrow, JJ, and Stroud I am thinking that Day's reputation with QB is a little exaggerated.   Has he gotten any of them right?  I will LOL when McCord is a 1st round pick in '25.

gruden

March 17th, 2024 at 12:09 PM ^

It's also probably his own attitude, which seemed to transform in that playoff game vs. Georgia.  He (seemed to) realize that he couldn't simply rely on his team's overall talent to completely dominate an opponent, it required a little extra something on his part.  I think that game was a very timely launching pad to the NFL; those last couple losses were very instructional.

bronxblue

March 16th, 2024 at 7:54 PM ^

I think he'll be better in Pittsburgh than Chicago but I still just don't see how the stuff that has hurt him his entire career - struggling to read defenses and read quickly, plus some accuracy issues - will be resolved on a team that hasn't been particularly good on offense for a while now.  

Still, it's such a low-risk play I get why the Steelers would take it.  I also assume that means the Bears are going to take Caleb Williams.

ChicagoBlue21

March 16th, 2024 at 7:56 PM ^

I don't know of an NFL team that has a worse front office than the Bears. Brady and Mahomes wouldn't have won here, I don't know that even JJ can overcome that level of ineptitude.

 

RobM_24

March 16th, 2024 at 7:57 PM ^

Bears fan here. I couldn't be happier that the Bears moved on. Fields seemed like a good kid and everything, but it was more than apparent that he couldn't process things quickly enough. He had to see guys come open before letting it go, and that put a low ceiling on his game. Unfortunately, I see a lot of that in Williams too -- but maybe he can improve. Fields had more than enough time to improve, and he never did.