Justin Fields trade ultimate proof Bears are making right decision with Caleb Williams

Justin Fields trade ultimate proof Bears are making right decision with Caleb Williams originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Justin Fields era in Chicago ended Saturday at 5:40 local time when the Bears traded the 25-year-old quarterback to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago. The pick will become a fourth-round pick if Fields plays 51 percent of the snaps in 2024, per source.

In trading Fields, the Bears officially clear the deck for presumptive No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams once the 2024 NFL Draft arrives on April 25.

The Bears always believed the Steelers and Atlanta Falcons were the most likely trade partners for Fields. NBC Sports Chicago reported that the Bears had conversations with both teams around Fields at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.

General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears hoped for a better return for Fields. There’s a portion of the Bears’ front office that believes in Fields and his potential, but Fields never played well enough to force a regime that didn’t draft him to pass on a potentially franchise-altering quarterback and stick with him.

The offers the Bears hoped would arrive for Fields never did. The Falcons went with Kirk Cousins, and several other teams passed on the opportunity to acquire Fields.

In the end, 31 other teams told the Bears they were making the right choice in resetting the quarterback contract clock and pushing their chips behind a rookie quarterback, presumably Williams, at No. 1.

The outcry from some, locally and nationally, for the Bears to trade the pick and keep Fields never made sense based on the evidence in 38 games at quarterback.

Fields was polarizing. He was a magician with his legs and authored some of the most remarkable plays I’ve ever seen with his legs. He was a captivating athlete who made enough plays to give you a hint of what he might one day become. But he was often maddening from the pocket. He held the ball too long, took…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/justin-fields-trade-ultimate-proof-235611748.html

Author : NBC Sports Chicago

Publish date : 2024-03-16 23:59:05

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