New Detail of Justin Fields Trade is Sneaky-Good for Bears

The Chicago Bears officially ended the Justin Fields era on Saturday by agreeing to trade him to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While many thought a split was coming, the return for the former No. 11 overall pick has surprised many, as a conditional sixth-round pick was all it took to land Fields.

However, a new detail from this deal could make this swap better for Chicago.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported Sunday morning that the Steelers' 2025 sixth-rounder becomes a fourth-round pick if Fields plays in at least 51% of Pittsburgh's offensive snaps this season.

The Steelers probably aren't expecting that to come to fruition, as they made it part of the deal. After all, the team just signed veteran Russell Wilson to take over as the team's starter, and all reports note Fields is being looked at as a backup only heading into the 2024 campaign.

Yet, there's several realistic paths where Fields does play enough to boost Chicago's return.

Wilson is on his third team in four years for a reason. The once-impressive quarterback has significantly declined, causing the Denver Broncos to cut him and absorb a historic dead cap hit instead of paying him as a franchise QB.

At 35 years old, Wilson is also nearing the end of his NFL run. Meanwhile, Fields has an entire career ahead of him at just 25.

If Wilson struggles through the early part of the year, Mike Tomlin likely won't hesitate to consider Fields. While he knows about the increased compensation if Fields' snaps increase, a fourth-rounder is nothing when trying to find your next long-term starter.

There's way more upside for the Steelers to see Fields work out than Wilson, so they have plenty of incentive to see what he can do throughout the 2024 campaign.

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