CHICAGO — Chicago Bears basic supervisor Ryan Poles was the Chiefs’ director of school scouting in 2017 when Kansas Metropolis drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who sat for a 12 months and discovered behind veteran starter Alex Smith. Poles is aware of that dynamic might work.
However that is not what he was dealing with with the Bears.
As a substitute of getting a confirmed starter like Smith, the Bears had Justin Fields coming into his fourth season with questions on his improvement. Including a No. 1 decide like USC quarterback Caleb Williams to the combo, even only for offseason exercises and coaching camp, may need made the scenario untenable, or at the least awkward for each gamers. With a number of Bears gamers just lately voicing sturdy help for Fields, the potential for locker room discord needed to be thought of.
Poles prevented that state of affairs by buying and selling Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night time for a 2025 sixth-round decide, which converts to a fourth-rounder if Fields performs 51% of the offensive snaps this season.
“You simply cannot [have both on the roster],” an NFL assistant coach instructed ESPN previous to the commerce. “The league known as Chicago’s bluff, and gained.
“They don’t seem to be getting something for [Fields], and simply have to let him go.”
Clearly, it wasn’t the compensation Poles initially sought. A supply with data of the workforce’s plans instructed ESPN the Bears had initially eyed a Day 2 draft choice plus a late conditional 2025 decide. Six groups, together with Pittsburgh, got here with quite a lot of presents, with most envisioning Fields as a backup.
Via a flurry of QB exercise, Fields’ market was shrinking. After being unable to maneuver Fields earlier than the beginning of free company, a number of NFL entrance workplace sources instructed ESPN they believed Chicago’s finest probability to get the compensation it desired — or near it — can be if a workforce missed out on the quarterback it hoped to draft in April.
Poles additionally might have waited till the start of the season, and when a beginning quarterback acquired injured, engaged that workforce in commerce talks.
However when Poles stated through the mix in February he needed to “do proper” by Fields, that meant not subjecting him to a protracted interval earlier than he was dealt. It additionally meant not dealing him to a workforce that had a younger beginning quarterback, and the Steelers match that standards after signing Russell Wilson to a one-year deal.
“We now have engaged in a number of commerce conversations in latest weeks and imagine buying and selling Justin presently to Pittsburgh is what’s finest for each Justin and the Bears,” Poles stated in a press release. “… We spoke to Justin to tell him of the commerce and the rationale behind it for us as a membership.
“We wish to thank him for his tireless dedication, management and all he poured into our franchise and neighborhood the final three years and need him the very best in direction of a protracted and profitable NFL profession.”
In a social media put up Saturday, Fields thanked the Bears and town of Chicago “for permitting me the chance to be a part of such a historic franchise.”
It meant so much to Poles to have the ability to half methods with Fields, who was drafted by GM Ryan Tempo in 2021, on good phrases. That will not have been the case if he stored Fields and drafted Williams.
Plus, Poles needed to place his new quarterback in the very best place to succeed, and as he mentioned on the mix, there are a whole lot of elements to think about.
“What is the infrastructure appear to be?” he stated. “What’s across the participant? I feel that is key.”
In Chicago, what’s across the rookie quarterback the Bears will draft is a roster that is able to compete.
Not too long ago acquired broad receiver Keenan Allen joins broad receiver DJ Moore as the one teammates within the NFL who had at the least 90 receptions and 1,200 yards in 2023. The Bears upgraded their backfield with D’Andre Swift, added Gerald Everett to the tight finish room and are bettering alongside the offensive line after including two inside linemen who might improve the middle place: Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton. Chicago’s younger protection is loaded with expertise from defensive finish Montez Sweat to cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Establishing a clear-cut position for his or her soon-to-be-new QB1 separated Poles from the best way the group operated prior to now, like when the workforce traded as much as draft Fields, sandwiching him between two veteran quarterbacks — Andy Dalton and Nick Foles — who weren’t eager on ceding their jobs to a rookie.
There will not be any suspense about who the Bears’ beginning quarterback will likely be after the primary spherical of the draft on April 25. The one query is how a lot of an improve will he be over Fields.
