Bears GM Ryan Poles: Trading Justin Fields 'one of the harder things I've had to do'

ORLANDO, Fla. — When Bears general manager Ryan Poles finally decided what he was going to do with quarterback Justin Fields, he drove to coach Matt Eberflus’ house in Lake Bluff. They called Fields together, on speaker, March 16 to tell him he had been traded to the Steelers.

‘‘He was positive; his tone was good,’’ Poles said Monday, speaking about the trade for the first time at the NFL’s annual meeting. ‘‘I think what was important for ’Flus and I is really to express to him this is really a tough decision, how much he means to the city of Chicago, our fan base and us.’’

They reached out to Bears veterans, too, to explain the move. It was important to Poles to say goodbye to Fields the right way — and to turn the page to a new quarterback.

Trading Fields for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2025 was hard for Poles on a personal level, but it wasn’t a particularly difficult football decision.

‘‘With a lot of this, it’s framed as Justin versus a rookie,’’ Poles told the Sun-Times in a separate interview. ‘‘But I think the biggest thing is the timeline and the runway with a rookie contract to be able to continue to build a team in a way that you have enough resources to get it where you need to get it to.

‘‘We were getting to the end of that runway with Justin.’’

USC quarterback Caleb Williams, whom the Bears are expected to draft No. 1 overall next month, is expected to make about $39 million over four years. The cheap contract will give the Bears the financial flexibility to build around Williams.

Poles said there was ‘‘a lot to unpack’’ when he was asked why Fields, a first-round pick only three years ago, didn’t work out.

‘‘There was a choppy start in his rookie year,’’ he said. ‘‘And when I came in, we had some cleaning up to do, which delayed another year of adding talent and supporting [him].

‘‘Then in terms of the game, I feel like he was making strides and improving. . . . [But] it’s really the timeline and how much runway you have. Because to get a guy up off the ground, you need to support him with as much talent as possible.’’

Poles said he had ‘‘deep conversations’’ with staff members about keeping both a rookie (presumably Williams) and Fields.

‘‘How would that play out in terms of the locker room? How would that play out with a young guy that needs a lot of reps? How would that play out with just the command and leadership that you need in that position?’’ he said. ‘‘We felt like it was best to probably move on and allow a young quarterback to come in and work into that role.’’

Poles said he was surprised the trade market for Fields wasn’t more robust.

‘‘If you look at the beginning [of the draft], there are probably teams that are looking at the draft for guys to fill in,’’ he said. ‘‘On the back end, playoff teams probably have someone in place. So, really, it was a smaller pool of teams.’’

Poles claimed he turned down a stronger offer from a team with a more established quarterback so he could give Fields a good opportunity in Pittsburgh. But even those offers were likely no better than a sixth-round pick this season.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Fields has ‘‘a lot of meat left on that bone’’ in terms of potential. He’ll begin the season behind starter Russell Wilson.

‘‘I’m not judging anything that was done in Chicago,’’ Tomlin said. ‘‘That’s not my business. I just look at the pedigree and the talent, the things that aren’t relevant to coaching.’’

Trading Fields was ‘‘probably one of the harder things I’ve had to do,’’ Poles said. But it’s done.

‘‘Having that conversation with my own son was hard,’’ Poles said. ‘‘[Fields’] jersey’s up in his room.’’