In the spring of 2022, shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs had traded Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for a bushel of draft picks, I had a conversation with an AFC general manager about the strength of the rookie class that was weeks away from being selected. He complained that it felt like a thin group on offense, particularly on the heels of the 2021 class.
“The quarterbacks are weak,” the GM said. “Especially after last year’s group.”
The fraternity he was speaking of included five first-round quarterbacks, all selected inside the top 15 picks. Going into that draft, some personnel officials suggested it had the chance to be special, one of the best classes in decades, blessed with the generational talent of Trevor Lawrence, cannon arm of Zach Wilson, unlimited ceilings of Trey Lance and Justin Fields, and the pinpoint accuracy and well-rounded passing profile of Mac Jones. In terms of styles, there was something for everyone in the class. And despite four of the five players struggling badly in their 2021 rookie seasons, talent evaluators were still raving about the class the following offseason. That included this particular general manager, who still believed it would be a measuring stick for years to come, despite only Jones sustaining early success.
“Top to bottom, that entire first round could be one of the best in history,” he said. “Especially with the quarterbacks.”
This embedded content is not available in your region.
In the indexing of throwaway predictions over the years, that one has continued to stick out like a sore thumb. Even if part of it still has some merit. Indeed, a handful of the 2021 first-round picks have produced some special talents. But only one quarterback — the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Lawrence — has hinted at cementing himself as a franchise quarterback. And even that has been a roller-coaster ride, with his 2023 season representing an injury-driven step backward. The rest: Wilson is on the trade block with little to no interest, while Lance, Jones and Fields have all been traded for a pittance of late-round draft picks.
Fields was the capper Saturday, with the Chicago Bears offloading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday — the same Steelers that signed Russell Wilson after he was unceremoniously released by the Denver Broncos last week, then sent their 2022 first-round quarterback, Kenny Pickett, to the Philadelphia Eagles in a fire sale on Friday. It has been that kind of quarterback carnage this offseason. The 2024 quarterback class has played a part in all this, but we’ll get back to that in a moment. First, we have to address what happened with Fields.
Fields gives Steelers financial flexibility at QB
How did this come together? In the broad strokes, there is simplicity to it. The Steelers held Fields in very high regard in that 2021 draft. They had a high grade on him. And despite having their doubts a few months ago that Chicago would actually make him (cheaply) available this offseason, the Steelers engaged the Bears when it became apparent that Fields would be on the move. But it wasn’t until their own 2022 first-round quarterback selection, Pickett, got a burr in his saddle following the signing of Wilson, that the path forward became clear.
First, it took Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman kicking into a higher gear when it came to his pursuit of another backup quarterback behind Jalen Hurts. That developed at the conclusion of the first wave of free agency — roughly in the Thursday/Friday window — and after Roseman had made some overtures to the Bears, checking in on the trade price of Fields. It was a move that would have made sense schematically, but Roseman instead found traction with the Steelers on Pickett, which was recognized as a more attractive option because Pickett came with two years of rookie contract control, versus only one with Fields. And once the Steelers reached a point of commitment to moving Pickett…
This article was originally published by a sports.yahoo.com . Read the Original article here. .