The Bears did improve to a 7-10 record and Fields leaned more on his passing game in 2023, throwing for 2,562 yards and 16 touchdowns, while his rushing yards almost halved from 1,143 to 657.
But this time Chicago decided to move on from Fields – and that they could not pass up on that first overall pick a second time – especially with several quarterbacks being among the most highly-rated prospects in this year’s draft class.
“Thank you to the entire Bears organisation and ownership for allowing me the opportunity to be part of such a historic franchise,” Fields added.
“But most of all thank you to all my brothers that I played with. You all were the reason I attacked each day the way I did. I wish each one of you nothing but success.”
Pittsburgh, who have not had a losing season in 17 years under coach Mike Tomlin and were knocked out of the first round of last season’s play-offs, have now overhauled their quarterback roster during free agency.
As well as bringing in two of last season’s starting quarterbacks, they have let go of Pickett and his back-ups Mitchell Trubisky (Buffalo Bills) and Mason Rudolph (Tennessee Titans), who both started games after Pickett suffered an ankle injury in December.
