Trade Terms
The Bears have agreed to trade QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick. According to an ESPN source, the pick can move up to the fourth round if Fields plays 51 percent of Pittsburgh's snaps this season.
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Fantasy Football Impact
The quarterback situation in Pittsburgh has provided plenty of headlines so far in free agency. The team signed Russell Wilson on the first day of legal tampering and then traded a disgruntled Kenny Pickett away five days later. Now, they've acquired Fields, whose landing spot had been the talk of the offseason.
When describing Fields's time in the NFL, a distinction is often made between the NFL quarterback and the fantasy asset. In fantasy, you have a player who finished as the QB9 in 2022, rushing for 1143 yards, the second-most ever by a quarterback. He was also pacing as a top-15 quarterback and added another 657 rushing yards last year, second-most in the league, even missing four games. His rushing ability has carried him through three seasons in the league, which plays well in fantasy.
On the other hand, since making Fields the 11th pick of the 2021 draft, the Bears have only won 16 games in three seasons. In most throwing categories, Fields was below the league average for starting quarterbacks. He never completed more than 63% of his passes and never threw for more than 2600 yards or 17 touchdowns in a season. He was solid for fantasy but did not appear to be the answer in Chicago. So it was no surprise that Caleb Williams' name rang loudly when the Bears ended up for the 1st overall pick.
Initial reports from Pittsburgh are that Russell Wilson will start, and Fields will back him up. However, Wilson is 35 and signed a one-year deal. We may not see a lot of Fields in 2024, but he could be back in the fold in 2025. Fields' rookie deal is also set to expire this season. So, barring a restructuring with Pittsburgh, we will be talking about Fields and the Steelers' quarterback situation again next March.
The Fantasy Football Fallout
In Chicago, it appears Caleb Williams will be the pick in April. Williams is highly-rated and has the weapons in Chicago to make noise as a rookie. On top of adding DJ Moore last season, the Bears have been active this week, signing D'Andre Swift and trading for Keenan Allen. It is just about a dream scenario for any rookie quarterback.
It shouldn't change much for the Steelers, at least in 2024. If they are true to their word, Wilson is the starter, and you can read Bob Harris's opinion on the Wilson signing here. However, the subsequent trade of Diontae Johnson likely lowered this role's appeal in fantasy.
Notably, there are some of the conflicting reports out of Pittsburgh about the starting role. It was initially reported that Pickett would compete with Wilson, but then that morphed into Wilson getting the first crack at first-team reps and Pickett playing from behind. This was when Pickett reportedly asked for a trade.
Footballguys' John Lee best sums up the confusing situation: "How is Wilson the starter versus Fields when Pickett was in a competition? Maybe Pickett knew it wasn't a "competition" after all? Fields is better than Pickett (IMO). I don't understand why Pittsburgh would name Wilson the starter here…very little upside to doing so. Again, JMO."
It might not be so cut-and-dry, and you have to think, at least towards the end of the season, Pittsburgh will want to see what they have in Fields. This makes both quarterbacks risky in fantasy until there is more clarity.
Stock Watch
Risers
- Caleb Williams, assuming he is Chicago's pick
Fallers
Overview
After months of waiting to see what Chicago would do with Justin Fields after they landed the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, we have an answer. The Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he will either back up Russell Wilson or compete with him to start. While we wait and see which scenario plays out, both quarterbacks are risky fantasy assets in 2024.