NFL trade regrade: Bears clearing path for Caleb Williams looks much better now

What a difference a few weeks can make. When the Chicago Bears first sent quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers back in March, the trade was almost universally seen as a steal. In a QB market in which guys like Literally Kenny Pickett were commanding mid-round selections, were we really expected to believe that the best Chicago could do for Fields — hardly a perfect player, but undeniably talented and just a few years removed from going No. 11 overall — was a conditional sixth rounder? Sure, the Bears were desperate to clear the way for soon-to-be No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams, but how do you get next to nothing for a guy who can credibly start NFL games?

That impression was further solidified as the NFL season got going. Despite a world-beating defense, the Bears got off to a 1-2 start as Williams made some very rookie mistakes. Fields, meanwhile, had ascended to the starting job in Pittsburgh after an injury to Russell Wilson, and was in the midst of leading the Steelers to three straight wins — while taking better care of the ball and playing more responsibly than he ever had in Chicago.

Just three weeks later, though, Bears GM Ryan Poles is probably ready to take a victory lap. While things have gone south of late in Pittsburgh, Chicago has caught fire, and Williams looks every bit like the franchise guy they'd envisioned when they drafted him. The USC product's latest masterpiece: 23-29 with 226 yards and four TDs through the air plus another 56 yards in the ground in the Bears' blowout win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

From a pure asset-management standpoint, you can probably still find fault in how Chicago navigated the Fields situation. Still, it's hard to feel as rosy about things from the Steelers' perspective, and it may be time to reevaluate this trade overall.

NFL trade regrade: Bears pave the way for Caleb Williams, send Justin Fields to the Steelers

To be clear, Poles and the Bears aren't above criticism here. They still waited too long to make a decision on Fields, putting themselves into a situation where the entire league knew they were going to draft Williams and move on from the former Ohio State star — thus erasing any leverage they may have been able to claim. And even with no leverage, Poles probably could've done better than a conditional sixth; again Kenny Pickett (Kenny Pickett!) got sent to the Philadelphia Eagles along with a fourth rounder in exchange for a third rounder and two sevenths in the same offseason. In such a quarterback-starved league, someone would have been willing to take a chance on a player with Fields' talent.

At the same time, we were probably overrating Fields' appeal around the league. He's a very particular player with very particular skills, skills that involve overhauling your entire offensive scheme. He also had a nasty habit of taking sacks and throwing interceptions, two big negatives that would leave every head coach (risk-averse people by nature) wanting to take Fields off their free-agency board entirely. Pickett is a backup, and knows he's a backup. Fields, meanwhile, still had designs on starting, and would leave a team's fan base clamoring for him the minute things went wrong. Chicago probably could have cut bait earlier and gotten a bit more, but you can understand why they were hesitant to let Fields go until they knew they had Williams in hand, and Fields' market wasn't as robust as we thought.

From Pittsburgh's perspective, well ... it hasn't been a disaster, but it also hasn't changed much of anything about the team's long-term future at the QB position. A conditional sixth isn't a huge price to pay, but there was also some opportunity cost incurred by settling on Fields as the guy they wanted to bring in to compete with Wilson. He offers far more upside than Russ at this point in his career, and he should remain the starter even when Wilson returns from his calf injury. But rather than a coup that could change Pittsburgh's playoff trajectory, this feels like more wheelspinning from a franchise that remains stuck in purgatory.

Chicago Bears trade regrade: B-
Pittsburgh Steelers trade regrade: C+