ORLANDO, Fla. – When the time came for the Chicago Bears to trade Justin Fields, general manager Ryan Poles went over to coach Matt Eberflus’ house so they could make the phone call to their quarterback together.

Poles called the conversation earlier this month letting Fields know he was being dealt after three seasons as the Bears starter “one of the harder things I’ve had to do.” Poles and Eberflus wanted to express to Fields that it was a “tough decision” and to let the QB know how much he had meant to the city and the Bears fanbase.

The Bears also called several players to inform them they would be trading a respected teammate. And then Poles had to have one more difficult conversation – with his son, Mason, who had Fields’ jersey hanging in his room.

“It kind of puts that into perspective of how difficult those moves are,” Poles said. “But I really felt like that was best for our organization and best for Justin. I said that at the combine. I wanted to do right by him. We did that.”

Poles and the Bears staff are deep into their decision-making process about whether they will draft USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick to replace Fields at the end of April. But early Monday at the NFL owners meeting at the JW Marriott Orlando, Poles spoke publicly for the first time about the process that led to the Bears sending Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2025 sixth-round pick, which could be a fourth-round pick based on Fields’ 2024 playing time.

Poles said he was a little bit surprised there wasn’t a more robust trade market for Fields, but said as the Bears did research and had conversations with other teams, they adjusted expectations.

There were other teams involved in trade talks, but Poles felt the Steelers presented a better opportunity for Fields to get on the field through an open competition with veteran Russell Wilson, whom the team signed to a one-year contract at the beginning of free agency. Poles publicly made clear at the NFL combine a month ago that he wanted to “do right by Justin” in the trade, and there wasn’t a big enough difference in trade compensation offers from other teams to sway the decision.

“There were other opportunities where there were some quarterbacks that were either veteran guys or young guys that had already been paid, so it would have been a tougher situation for him to get on the field,” Poles said.

After the Steelers signed Wilson, third-year quarterback Kenny Pickett “expressed a desire for a change of scenery,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Monday at the AFC coaches breakfast. That led Pittsburgh to trade Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles and pursue Fields.

Tomlin said Wilson will enter the team’s offseason program and training camp in the “pole position” to be the Steelers starter given his depth of experience. But he said Fields will be given an opportunity “to show his capabilities” in the preseason.

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