The Bears traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Steelers, clearing the way to draft his replacement, a source said. The Steelers sent the Bears a 2025 sixth-round pick that would escalate to a fourth if he plays at least 51% of the snaps for them this season.
The Bears have long been expected to draft USC’s Caleb Williams No. 1 overall.
While Fields produced plenty of highlights for the Bears, they held him to a high standard because they had the No. 1 pick in the draft. He ultimately didn’t prove enough as a passer for them to bet their future on him.
General manager Ryan Poles spoke highly of Fields throughout their two years together, but he wasn’t tied to Fields as his own draft pick. His predecessor, Ryan Pace, traded up to draft Fields 11th overall the year before the Bears hired Poles.
Poles hoped to send Fields to as good of a situation as possible while maintaining the Bears’ best interests. In Pittsburgh, Fields will back up 35-year-old Russell Wilson.
After a rough rookie season under Pace and former coach Matt Nagy, Fields struggled to progress amid the Bears’ teardown in 2022. When they added pieces last season, he made modest improvement but still finished in the bottom half of the NFL in most categories.
Among the 37 quarterbacks who threw at least 600 passes over the last three seasons, Fields was 34th in passer rating (82.3), 36th in completion percentage (60.3), 24th in yards passing (6,674), 23rd in touchdown passes (40) and threw the 12th-most interceptions. He was second among all quarterbacks with 2,220 yards rushing.
Fields’ exit now puts the attention almost exclusively on Williams. He has been the projected top pick in this draft since his Heisman season at USC in 2022 and is consensus best quarterback prospect in his class.
The Bears’ only quarterbacks currently under contract for next season are Tyson Bagent, who was their backup as an undrafted rookie last season, and recent free-agent pickup Brett Rypien.
