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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — The Bears have traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team confirmed in a statement Saturday.
The Steelers sent a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Bears that converts to a fourth-round selection if Fields plays 51% of snaps this season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Fields, who completed his third season with Chicago in 2023, will join a quarterback room with Russell Wilson, who signed a one-year deal with the Steelers on Friday.
Fields is not expected to compete with Wilson for the starting job, a team source told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. Instead, Fields is expected to learn from the Super Bowl winner and nine-time Pro Bowler.
In a social media post Saturday, Fields thanked the Bears organization and the city of Chicago “for allowing me the opportunity to be part of such a historic franchise.”
Can’t say thank you enough to the city of Chicago for taking me in and embracing me. Thank you to the entire Bears organization and ownership for allowing me the opportunity to be part of such a historic franchise. But most of all thank you to my all my brothers that I played… pic.twitter.com/fT1dORwFU5
— Justin Fields (@justnfields) March 16, 2024
Two weeks ago at the NFL combine, Bears general manager Ryan Poles addressed the idea of a Fields trade publicly for the first time. Poles said he aimed to not leave the quarterback in limbo and hoped to “do right” by Fields as Chicago determined its quarterback plan for the future.
He reiterated that stance in a statement Saturday confirming the trade.
“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,” Poles said. “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.”
Chicago owns the No. 1 pick in the draft and is the first team of the common draft era to have the draft’s top selection one season after trading it. In March 2023, the Bears sent the No. 1 pick to Carolina in exchange for four draft picks — including the Panthers’ 2024 first-rounder — and wide receiver DJ Moore. Carolina’s 2-15 finish in 2023 locked Chicago into the No. 1 spot in the draft order.
With Fields off the roster, the Bears are expected to take a quarterback in April’s first round.
The Bears finished with a 7-10 record in 2023, which netted them the No. 9 pick. Fields missed four games during the season after dislocating his right thumb. He threw for a career-best 2,562 yards, 16 touchdowns and 9 interceptions and showed improvement in protecting the football by throwing fewer picks and taking fewer sacks than he did in 2022.
Fields’ career with the Bears ends after 38 starts, where he completed 60.3% of his passes for 6,674 yards, 40 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
As the Bears move forward in search of their next quarterback, the process for evaluating draft-eligible signal-callers is the same as last year, according to Bears coach Matt Eberflus, despite the depth and talent of the 2024 quarterback class and Chicago’s new offensive staff.
The Bears hired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in January after three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. Prior to the Bears moving on from Fields, Waldron said he “totally believe[s]” that his offense will work with whom the franchise chose at quarterback.
“I felt different quarterbacks have been able to step foot into the system and be able to learn it quickly,” Waldron said in February. “And that starts with us being able to teach it in a good and efficient manner where they understand it … because each guy’s gonna have a different skill set, so what direction does it go? The players really take ownership and control of that.”
At the combine, Eberflus said the Bears will weigh a quarterback’s situational awareness and execution heavily as they evaluate and ultimately decide who will be under center in 2024.
“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. They come in all different shapes and sizes. It’s always been fun to evaluate those.”
