The Chicago Bears should have waited to trade quarterback Justin Fields rather than taking the Pittsburgh Steelers’ conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2025 in exchange for Fields’ services last month, according to one anonymous NFL executive.
Regarding the Bears exchanging Fields for a story that was published on Wednesday, the executive told Mike Sando of The Athletic, “They almost got bullied or gave up.” “They had to reduce their asking price after realizing the seats were filled, as their initial request was likely excessive. I don’t know why you would make that trade because the ask will be bigger if someone gets hurt or doesn’t get the quarterback they were hoping for.”
Shortly after the Fields deal became known, current NFL commentator Chase Daniel stated that the Bears could have “held onto him maybe for a few more months” or even through the 2024 season, or until a potential contender lost a quarterback to an unavoidable injury.
On theory, such a plan makes sense, but it fails to take into account the fact that general manager Ryan Poles of the Bears effectively pledged to “do right by” Fields.
Just about everybody expects Chicago will make USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams the first pick of this year’s draft on April 25. It’s assumed Poles didn’t want the two to share a locker room in part because of Fields’ popularity among Bears players.
It’s now clear rumors from this past winter that hinted one team could ultimately send the Bears a first-round pick for Fields ahead of this year’s draft weren’t close to being accurate.
