For a second straight season, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a trade with the Chicago Bears. In 2022, it was a trade of Chase Claypool for a second-round pick that would become Joey Porter Jr. This season, it's a trade that sent then Bears’ quarterback Justin Fields to the Steelers for a conditional draft pick in 2025. Plenty of debate has been made about how the Steelers swindled the Bears in the first trade, but now there is controversy that the Steelers did it again in acquiring Fields despite the fact he has yet to play a single snap with his new team.
In an interview with NBC Sports Chicago, Dwight Freeney, who will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of its 2024 Class, issued a warning to Bears’ fans after moving on from Fields.
"I get it, but the grass is not always greener on the other side, so be careful what you ask for. It's not easy to make it in the National Football League. There is no guarantees out here, being able to be successful having four or five years of success. It's not easy, so a lot of veteran guys who are probably talking about this have seen the horror stories."
The Bears are expected to take USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in next week’s draft, which prompted the Fields trade to Pittsburgh. Trading away former first-round to draft an unexperienced player out of college is a fair point to discuss.
There are countless examples over the years of players who excelled at the college level, but never were able to translate into being superstars in the NFL. Think about guys like Ryan Leaf or Josh Rosen. Though Fields hasn't been lights out at the professional level in his career with the Bears, as Mike Tomlin said, "there is still a lot of meat on that bone."
The Steelers have been searching for the next great franchise quarterback since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, and the reaction of Steelers fans is that Fields is that guy, as long as the inconsistency in Chicago wasn't a part of that trade.
What Do The Steelers Have To Do To Fix That Problem?
The Steelers have already done the right first step in bringing Fields to Pittsburgh. Creating the perfect combination between system and quarterback is half the battle in the success of a quarterback's career as Freeney discussed on the show.
"You have to complement the scheme with the offensive coordinator, the quarterback, everything has to be working cohesively together."
The AFC is full of teams with the perfect "marriage" between coach and quarterback. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, CJ Stroud and DeMeco Ryans with the Houston Texans, and Tua Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel for the Miami Dolphins are all great examples for how a player can perform when they are put in the best position to succeed.
Fields matches what the Steelers want to do at quarterback under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, in being mobile inside and outside the pocket while also having a solid arm.
Fields may not have been built around correctly in Chicago, but a change of scenery may be what is best in his young career. It also is a safer move for Pittsburgh to take a proven veteran, rather than taking a swing on a rookie per Freeney.
"What I've seen from Fields is that something is better than nothing. You don't know what the other guy is going to produce and what he's going to do. You know what you got and he's a hard worker."
In his three seasons with the Bears, Fields had 6,674 passing yards and a 40-30 touchdown to interception ratio, and has seen his stats improve each season since entering the league in 2021. The Steelers feel that they are setup as the best case scenario for both Fields and current starter Russell Wilson.
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