For months former Chicago Bears Justin Fields heard the rumors of the team possibly trading him if they actually landed the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
By virtue of the Carolina Panthers finishing with the worst record in the league, that came to fruition. With the Panthers trading away their 2024 first-round pick to the Bears to draft former Alabama Heisman-winning signal-caller Bryce Young No. 1 overall last year, the Bears received the top pick this season.
That meant Fields would likely be moved if then-USC quarterback and 2022 Heisman winner Caleb Williams declared for the draft. After months of speculation, Williams declared for the draft, which meant Fields’ time in the “Windy City” was up.
In late March the Bears traded Fields, their first-round pick in the 2021 draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is something that Fields hoped for. During a recent interview with reporters at team organized team activities, Fields opened up on his mindset and how the trade has affected him.
Fields Happy To Be In Steel City
Changing teams and cities isn’t something Fields is unaccustomed to. The former five-star recruit began his college career at Georgia but transferred to Ohio State following his freshman season.
This time he ended up in Pittsburgh, making him 2-for-2 in moves. When asked how previous change of scenery has helped him going forward, Fields was upbeat.
“Just the culture,” he said last week to assembled reporters at the OTAs. “I really think Ohio State, I think there was a video that dropped with coach [Mike Tomlin]. I can just feel the energy and just the consistency throughout the years and the culture that Coach T and just the standards that the Steelers have set, this organization have set. So I think it was a big appeal for me. Our defense has always been a top tier and you can’t win games without defense. Just the culture, coach T, and, of course, the team itself.”
Strong words from Fields, who enters the team’s offseason program and season as the team’s backup behind starter Russell Wilson. After the trade for Fields, the well-respected Tomlin was quick to establish the quarterback room hierarchy, naming Wilson the starter and Fields his backup.
Justin Fields Doesn’t Plan On Being Backup For Long
For Fields this is a fresh start and gives him an opportunity to learn how to be a franchise signal-caller. He’ll get to see Wilson go about his business daily, and see how he handles everything as the starter, something Fields wasn’t shown or taught in Chicago.
Fields is smart enough to know that he likely wasn’t in the Bears’ plans going forward, and that became even more plausible when the Bears landed the top overall pick. Fields did his best to not let the rumors of his future affect him, but he’s human, and after while even he was like “trade me already.” Now that’s its happened Fields is hoping to apply what he learned from the Athens-to-Columbus move to this one.
“I mean, I’ve been dealing with people for a long time,” Fields said. “In my next meeting, we were in the same situation last year with having the No. 1 pick and it was just a little bit different this year. So I’m not naive to the fact that — I can read body languages and stuff like that. It wasn’t really a shock to where it was like, ‘Ah, I got traded.’ I knew what was going to happen beforehand. So I’m just glad I got traded to the spot I wanted to be at.”
The Bears did Fields a solid, sending him to his preferred destination, and that’s the least they could do when you consider how he handled all the chatter. Each week Fields brought his hard hat, and while the record doesn’t reflect winning, no one will ever question his desire to lead a Bears team devoid of talent.
Bears Didn’t Surround Fields With Talent
It’s no secret that Fields had some of the worst offensive playmakers around him for three seasons. That showed up in the results with Fields sporting an ugly 11-29 record.
Caleb Williams, however, has been set up with a plethora of weapons entering his rookie season.
Too bad team brass didn’t do the same for Fields.
