2023-2024 NFL Season (2 Viewers)

[Winston T. Boogie]

It looks like the Bears are trading Justin Fields to the Steelers. The trade haul is pretty weak. A 2025 sixth round pick that can upgrade to a fourth-round pick, if Fields takes more than 50% of the snaps in 2024.

Wow again! That seems like peanuts for Fields and I can't imagine why another team did not offer more. Technically according to the NFL compensation theory, if you trade for a future pick, like a 2025 pick in 2024, the value of that pick supposedly slides back one round on the compensation scale. So, a 2025 6th round pick equals a 2024 7th round pick.

That's a great trade for the Steelers and basically dumping Fields for very little for the Bears.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I would rate the job the Steelers did here as outstanding. They totally altered their QB room at almost no cost and made sure if Wilson continues to be little more than mediocre they have a guy to step right in. Both Fields and Wilson should love playing for Tomlin.

I have to imagine Wilson would be a bit worried here as he stepped in, and now it is out that they did tell him he is the starter, thinking he was comfortable and owned the job and the Steelers immediately traded for a guy that can challenge him and is a lot younger.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Also having this Fields deal done long before the draft just raised the value of every rookie QB in this draft. So, probably now the three other QBs McCarthy, Penix, and Nix all have a shot to go higher with Fields off the board.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Here is the explanation of why the Bears took a lower offer from Pittsburgh than they got from another team. There were said to be 5 teams talking to the Bears about Fields.

“The Bears had an additional offer with stronger draft capital from a team with an established starter, per a source, but chose to send Fields to Pittsburgh with the hope of putting the 25-year-old in a position to continue his development — first as a backup to Wilson and eventually as a starter. In Indianapolis, Bears GM Ryan Poles said he wanted to ‘do right’ by Fields, which included not keeping him on a team with a rookie and finding a spot where he could continue developing. In Pittsburgh, Fields will have that chance.”

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Wow, kind of the exact opposite of what the Steelers said would happen there. My guess is this, Wilson wanted a guarantee he would be the starter wherever he went. Hence why he would not go to the Giants supposedly. They told him he would compete with Jones. Now when the Steelers signed Wilson, the media knew that Wilson wanted that guarantee he would start so they were asking him and the Steelers if he was the starter and he was guaranteed the job. They would not really answer the question and gave some weak response about Wilson being a leader in the locker room and that they expected him to lead the team. My guess is the truth is they did tell Wilson he was the starter, that there would not be a QB competition, which they told Pickett there would be, and as soon as Kenny found out they lied to him, he asked for a trade. That's fair. So, I don't think it is about him thinking he is in a better position as the back-up to Hurts but he is at least on a team that did not lie to him.

Pickett was traded because he was a problem in the locker room. Late last season, when healthy enough to do so, he refused to dress as Rudolph's backup for a game. Then, after initially saying he was okay with competing with Wilson for the starting job, he started to whine about the acquisition. The Steelers decided to get rid of the bad attitude, and Pickett is now the backup to an MVP candidate in Philly instead of competing for the starting job in Pittsburgh.

 

[Robert Crawford]

There is usually more to the story than what is being reported between a player and a team. I think it was best thing to happen for all of those traded QBs.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Pickett was traded because he was a problem in the locker room. Late last season, when healthy enough to do so, he refused to dress as Rudolph's backup for a game. Then, after initially saying he was okay with competing with Wilson for the starting job, he started to whine about the acquisition. The Steelers decided to get rid of the bad attitude, and Pickett is now the backup to an MVP candidate in Philly instead of competing for the starting job in Pittsburgh.

I was speculating about what may have happened. I have no insight into what actually happened. There were reports that the Giants really wanted to sign Wilson but in the talks they had they would not guarantee Wilson the starting job. Wilson's agent apparently told the Giants that Russell felt he was a starter and only would sign with a team that guaranteed him the starting job. The Giants would not.

The Steeler have been saying for a while that they were going to allow the QBs on the roster to compete for the starting job. Then they suddenly sign Wilson but when the media was asking if they met Wilson's demand, that he was guaranteed to be the starter, it was said they waffled on the response.

I just guessed they gave in to what Wilson wanted, which would have upset Pickett because I believe they kept telling him he was going to have the chance to compete for the job. It is the NFL so; the best guy should win the job. The interesting thing is this, now that Pickett has been traded and Fields has been brought in, now the Steelers are saying there is not a competition. Wilson will be the starter, Fields, they are saying openly, is being brought in to be the back-up.

I mean, I don't see anything wrong with anything that was done, unless the Steelers did upset Pickett by telling Wilson outright he was the starter so he signed with the Steelers. It is a bit weird that there is not going to be a competition between Wilson and Fields for the job, and they are now saying Wilson is the starter and Fields is the back-up.

I think the one thing here is, I think Wilson was in a better position with Pickett as the other guy, because Wilson probably had a good shot to beat out Kenny, but I kind of think Fields could end up outplaying Wilson and taking the job from him.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think the one thing here is, I think Wilson was in a better position with Pickett as the other guy, because Wilson probably had a good shot to beat out Kenny, but I kind of think Fields could end up outplaying Wilson and taking the job from him.

Personally, I am not that high on Fields. I think he's a backup QB at best. Hopefully I am wrong on that, or at least Wilson can find his game again in Pittsburgh. However, if neither works out, at least the Steelers haven't wasted any assets or money on the attempt. I don't think Pickett was the guy, either, but we'll never know for sure.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Personally, I am not that high on Fields. I think he's a backup QB at best. Hopefully I am wrong on that, or at least Wilson can find his game again in Pittsburgh. However, if neither works out, at least the Steelers haven't wasted any assets or money on the attempt. I don't think Pickett was the guy, either, but we'll never know for sure.

I think if Fields was drafted by the right team, he would've been a much better and developed QB right now. It's too bad, he didn't end up with Andy Reid or Kyle Shanahan.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Personally, I am not that high on Fields. I think he's a backup QB at best. Hopefully I am wrong on that, or at least Wilson can find his game again in Pittsburgh. However, if neither works out, at least the Steelers haven't wasted any assets or money on the attempt. I don't think Pickett was the guy, either, but we'll never know for sure.

My take on Pickett when I watched him play in a small sample size was he wasn’t a physically talented QB. The Steelers did the right thing by getting rid of all their QBs.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Personally, I am not that high on Fields. I think he's a backup QB at best. Hopefully I am wrong on that, or at least Wilson can find his game again in Pittsburgh. However, if neither works out, at least the Steelers haven't wasted any assets or money on the attempt. I don't think Pickett was the guy, either, but we'll never know for sure.

I think the way the Steelers dealt with it was fairly brilliant. If they lost faith in Pickett, they were able to clean house and create a new QB room and I think, if what I read was correct, they will be spending the least amount of money on their QBs this season by far than any team in the NFL. Impressive to have pulled that off and they have two QBs that likely would start were they on about half the teams in the NFL. I do not think any of the QBs they had on the roster would start on probably at least 30 of the 32 teams. So, really, pretty damn good for the Steelers and they bought themselves plenty of time to look at other QBs, and I would think Steelers fans will be excited to see how these new QBs work out.

I think the thing with Fields was, he showed real flashes of talent and he did improve over time. He just did not reach a point where he showed consistency. He's an intriguing prospect with good upside but as always, it will depend on his supporting cast and if his coaches do a good job. He's got a good skill set and he is much younger than Wilson, who was better last season but far from what he was in his prime. I think Fields may own the job there before the season is over.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I think the way the Steelers dealt with it was fairly brilliant. If they lost faith in Pickett, they were able to clean house and create a new QB room and I think, if what I read was correct, they will be spending the least amount of money on their QBs this season by far than any team in the NFL. Impressive to have pulled that off and they have two QBs that likely would start were they on about half the teams in the NFL. I do not think any of the QBs they had on the roster would start on probably at least 30 of the 32 teams. So, really, pretty damn good for the Steelers and they bought themselves plenty of time to look at other QBs, and I would think Steelers fans will be excited to see how these new QBs work out.

I think the thing with Fields was, he showed real flashes of talent and he did improve over time. He just did not reach a point where he showed consistency. He's an intriguing prospect with good upside but as always, it will depend on his supporting cast and if his coaches do a good job. He's got a good skill set and he is much younger than Wilson, who was better last season but far from what he was in his prime. I think Fields may own the job there before the season is over.

As a Steelers fan, I do hope that Fields works out and becomes a great "buy low" find. I have no idea how the new offensive coordinator will work out, but anyone is better than Matt Canada. We'll have to see how the receiving corp shapes up, as Dionte "slippery hands" Johnson was traded away, and George Pickens still needs an attitude adjustment. The offensive line is still a work in progress, too. I've just never been big on Ohio State quarterbacks. I may be showing my Michigan bias, but until CJ Stroud, every single one of them has sucked in the NFL.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Sitting at an Applebees right now- ESPN just showed a couple of highlights of Michigan’s QB. Sure looks like he has a good arm.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Sitting at an Applebees right now- ESPN just showed a couple of highlights of Michigan’s QB. Sure looks like he has a good arm.

I think McCarthy is going to be a very good NFL QB. He has all the tools - - a good arm, smart, mobile, and a good leader.

It looks like Florida State and Clemson are jumping ship in the ACC and joining the Big Ten in 2025. That would make 20 teams. And now Notre Dame is actually considering joining, too.

 

[Malcolm R]

May as well change the "Big Ten" to "Whoever the Hell Wants to Play"

 

[Chip_HT]

It looks like Florida State and Clemson are jumping ship in the ACC and joining the Big Ten in 2025. That would make 20 teams. And now Notre Dame is actually considering joining, too.

You might want to check today's date.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Texans made a good trade for Stefon Diggs. More weapons for their young QB.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I didn’t read the article, because I know it’s horse shit, but the headline was about the Mayor of Dallas saying he would welcome the Chiefs into his market, now that the citizens of Kansas City voted to not give public funding that the Chiefs owner was requesting. Little or no chance the Chiefs move out of the Kansas City area, and absolutely zero chance the Chiefs, or any other team moves into Jerry’s domain.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Texans made a good trade for Stefon Diggs. More weapons for their young QB.

Bills taking 31M dead luxury tax hit with this Diggs trade. Such a one year cap hit tells me the Bills wanted Diggs out of their facility.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I heard some talk on NFL radio about this and they did say the Bills were glad to see him go. It was said he is not a good teammate. I know nothing about that. I believe there were also some complaints about shots he had been taking at Josh Allen. I don't know anything about that either but, if those things are true, maybe that is why they moved him. There were rumors last season that the Bills locker room had become toxic and there was infighting between players. One can only wonder if this is why they moved some guys because Diggs is not the only guy they were supposedly happy to be rid of.