I don't think Fields is necessarily going to be a huge upgrade over Pickett but I could see them making this deal anyway. Fields limitations aren't just due to Chicago lack of talent around him, his accuracy and decision making is very suspect. I remember two games, vs Denver and vs Cleveland where he turned the ball over on the last possession when they were only down 3 points. He doesn't hit deep passes. Most teams with good run games, even if they don't have huge total passing yards they have good yards per completion as teams are stacking the box more but Fields was still in the bottom third in that stat even tho they had the 2nd most rush yards in the NFL. DJ Moore is a really good deep threat but he is going to waste because their QB is so limited.
When Rodgers left and the Packers still owned the Bears that doomed Fields in my eyes. Beating GB has to be the litmus test for any Bears QB going forward.
That article says that it's possible Chicago could get a 2nd round or even 1st round pick for Fields. That's crazy talk If I'm Pittsburgh or any other team, I'm not offering anything close to that for a guy who looks like another Ohio St bust. Literally only Stroud has made a successful transition from Buckeye to NFL QB in the last I dunno 20 years?
Any other team will look at it like: you are ready to give up on this guy and since you have the top pick you are probably gonna draft a QB anyway (or get a bunch of picks anyway) so why would I give up a valuable pick? 4th round pick is plenty IMO for a guy who is pretty obviously surplus to requirements.
I don't think they'll trade the top pick either, because they got this pick IN a trade. To make a trade for another team's pick and end up with that pick being the number one is the best result possible and makes the new GM look really smart. to then turn around and undo all that wouldn't make sense. If you're a relatively new GM on a team that needs a QB, getting the top pick in a trade is a dream scenario. You don't want to trade that for a bunch of guys to play with the old GM's pick, you want to use that pick for 'your guy'. Ryan Poles came onboard in 2022 so Fields wasn't his pick, which is another reason I'm certain he will get traded, and another reason I doubt they get much for him. The other teams know he isnt Poles' guy and Poles will want to just move on.. besides they have the number 9 pick also they're not stuck for picks. All he is gonna care about is getting the right QB. If he picks a QB who turns out to be a stud then Ryan Poles is going to look like a real genius.
But that's where it gets tricky. You basically are pinning all your hopes on Caleb Williams and Williams is, IMO, far from a slam dunk QB prospect.
USC was awful, it wasn't all his fault but I didn't think he looked like a superstar waiting to happen, I thought Penix was better than him. But I guess you could say Penix got exposed in the title game.
The other top QBs coming out I can't see Chicago taking. Jaydin Daniels has a very similar skill set and college stats to what Fields had when he came out. Drake Maye is coming out of UNC same school as Trubisky so I imagine they would avoid him like the plague.
JJ McCarthy doesn't get a lot of hype as he is seen as a game manager type of QB but I mean you could do worse than a guy who won a championship and doesn't make mistakes. i like him but I don't think he is exciting enough for anyone to spend a number one pick on.
I'll be surprised if Chicago doesn't use the top pick on Caleb Williams, and considering they have the 9 pick as well I don't think they're gonna drive a hard bargain for Fields nor will anyone give up much for him. Especially Pittsburgh who already has one Bears bustola on their roster and used a draft pick on a QB last year they're not gonna give up a 1st or 2nd.