Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has faced many tough choices since taking over the team two years ago, but trading QB Justin Fields was one of the hardest.
Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic published a piece on Poles’ time in charge on Monday, April 1, and mentioned that the GM and his colleagues in the front office would joke that “he sometimes wished Fields was a jerk.”
“Because it would make that a lot easier,” Poles explained. “But he’s such a good dude who worked his butt off. Was a great teammate, great in the locker room, handled the ups and downs really well. So it’s really hard to move on from guys that you like personally.”
Bears Turned Down Better Offer to Send Justin Fields to Steelers, One of His Preferred Destinations
GettyFormer Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields will play for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
Poles made the tough decision and traded Fields, as Chicago owns the No. 1 overall pick in an NFL draft filled with quarterback talent. The Bears are favorites to pick up USC signal-caller Caleb Williams, who is among the most highly praised prospects in recent years and often compared to three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes.
However, Poles’ lasting affection for his former quarterback may have caused Chicago to give up Fields for a less favorable trade return than the franchise could have otherwise received.
Brooke Pryor of ESPN reported on March 29 that Fields provided Poles with a list of four preferred destinations: the Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings.
Poles, who said earlier in the offseason that he intended to “do right” by Fields, ultimately sent the QB to the Steelers for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick that becomes a fourth-rounder if he plays 51% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps in 2024.
However, Pryor also reported that Poles decided to forego at least one offer for Fields that was superior to what the Steelers offered because the other interested team was not on Fields’ list of desired teams.
“Bears general manager Ryan Poles ultimately followed through on a combine pledge to ‘do right by Justin,’ dealing Fields to Pittsburgh over at least one better offer from a team with an established quarterback starter, a Bears team source said,” Pryor wrote.
GettyGeneral manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears.
While Poles maybe didn’t get the compensation he could have for Fields, he may have gained more with other players in the future. Making small sacrifices for the benefit of a departing player usually isn’t good business, but the knowledge that a GM sincerely wants to do right by his players might earn good will and influence a free-agent decision in the future.
It could also help to soften future impacts when Poles inevitably needs to make more tough decisions, which he acknowledged are coming.
“Those decisions will continue to come with success,” Poles told Fishbain. “Again, you get to a point where a quarterback starts taking up a lot of cap space or you have a better team that does. Like, you can’t keep everybody.”
Starting the timer on the quarterback contract again with one of the greatest prospects in recent memory is a benefit for the Bears. This means they will have more money to use on other players because Williams will be playing on a rookie contract for the next four years.
Chicago also has the rights to the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft and gained Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a fourth-round pick earlier this offseason. In other words, Poles has prepared the way, and now it's time for the Bears to take advantage.
