Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles didn’t revel in trading away quarterback Justin Fields.
Speaking to reporters at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting on Monday morning, Poles said he went to head coach Matt Eberflus’ house so they could call Fields together to inform him of the trade. Poles said the move was one of the most difficult things he’s had to do entering his third season as GM.
“Justin, probably one of the harder things I’ve had to do,” Poles said, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I always kind of touch on the empathy part, like having that conversation with my own son was hard. His jersey’s up in his room. So, it kind of puts that into perspective of how difficult those moves are.”
The Bears traded Fields to Pittsburgh in exchange for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick, a far cry from what most expected Chicago to recoup in trading its former first-round pick. With few obvious landing spots open, however, the Bears had little choice unless they were willing to hang onto Fields into the draft and perhaps beyond.
Poles noted there was a “lot to unpack” with why Fields didn’t work out in Chicago, noting the constant change the quarterback had to deal with in his three seasons.
“There was a choppy start in his rookie year,” he said. “And when I came in, we had some cleaning up to do, which delayed another year of adding talent and supporting. And then in terms of the game, I feel like he was making strides and improving. … It’s really the timeline and how much runway you have. Because to get a guy up off the ground, you need to support him with as much talent as possible. And then that flips because it takes so much cap space.”
The trade opens the door for Chicago to draft a QB No. 1 overall, presumably USC’s Caleb Williams. Poles told reporters that Williams will visit Halas Hall during the first week of April.
Poles noted his first impression of Williams was how much his teammates battle for the QB.
“They don’t like him,” he said, via Adam Hoge of CHGO Bears, “they love him.”
