Justin Fields injury gives Steelers upper hand in Bears trade

Justin Fields injury gives Steelers upper hand in Bears trade
Steelers Wire Steelers Wire

It is never a good feeling for fans when their favorite team’s players suffer an injury of any kind. This is especially true for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ backup QB Justin Fields, whose absence not only heavily weakens the depth behind QB Russell Wilson but also results in the loss of the ever-dynamic ‘Fields rushing packages.’

However, Fields missing his team’s Week 16 contest against the Baltimore Ravens complicates the Steelers-Bears trade in favor of the Black and Gold.

One condition of the trade that saw the Pittsburgh Steelers send a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears is that Fields would need to play over 51 percent of snaps for the pick to become a fourth-round draft selection. As fans can guess, his Week 16 absence makes this completely impossible now.

With Fields missing this week’s game, it closes the book on the conditions for the 4th round pick for the Chicago Bears.

Justin Fields cannot play in at least 51% of the snaps for the Steelers this year.

The Bears compensation for the Fields trade will be a 6th round pick. https://t.co/70SLIk3huo

— Bill Zimmerman (@BillTZimmerman) December 20, 2024

Early in the season, with Fields starting six games straight to open the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 campaign, it was expected the Bears would receive a fourth-round draft pick.

Wilson’s emergence not only changed the offense for the better, but it now seems to have assisted in what can only be described as a slam-dunk trade by Steelers GM Omar Khan.