Tell me if you have heard this one before — the Pittsburgh Steelers should make a trade and land Justin Fields. Well, it’s only been said about twenty times over the last week, and it seems like most people are on board with the idea. But it still does not match up with the comments the team made early this offseason.
Hwoever, Mike Tannenbaum made that projection on Get Up, and thinks that Fields makes a ton of sense with the Steelers to upgrade their quarterback room.
“If you look at their new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and all the success he had as an offensive coordinator in Tennessee with Ryan Tannehill, a big, strong athletic quarterback,” Tannenbaum said. “I think Justin Fields, that really comps very, very well. And you look at those skilled players that Pittsburgh has around what Justin Fields would have, it would be much better than whatever he had in Chicago. If I’m Pittsburgh with Mike Tomlin, with that defense, you have a brand new offensive coordinator. Gosh, if you can get Justin Fields, that changes Pittsburgh immediately.”
Appearing on ESPN 1000, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport believes that not only will the Bears not move off the first overall pick, but that they can get a solid haul for Fields.
“I think the Bears could get a premium pick, a second-rounder, maybe more,” Rapoport said. “They’re in a really good spot getting so many picks no matter what they do.”
So, it seems likely that the cost will end up being at least a second-round pick to get Fields from the Bears, especially with other teams in the conversation. Rapoport answered ‘definitely’ that all of the Steelers, Falcons, and Raiders were teams to watch.
Fields took a small step forward in 2023, his third year as Chicago’s starting quarterback. The 24-year-old Ohio State alum threw 370 times, completing 227 for 2,562 yards and 16 touchdowns. He threw nine interceptions and maintained an 86.3 passer rating and a 5.29 adjusted net yards per attempt.
Last season, he was 192 of 318 for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, an 85.2 quarterback rating and 4.63 adjusted net yards per attempt.
Fields is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Bears — or another team, if he’s traded — must decide this offseason if they want to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract. That would be a guaranteed $25 million contract for 2025. The Bears or another club could also attempt to negotiate a traditional contract extension.
