Louis Riddick Thinks Justin Fields Deal is a Home Run for Steelers

ESPN analyst Louis Riddick said recently that if quarterback Justin Fields’ trade market continued to linger, it would play into the Pittsburgh Steelers favor. Well, that came to fruition on Saturday night when the Steelers acquired Fields from Chicago for basically nothing. The compensation was just a sixth-round pick that can become a conditional fourth-round pick for the Bears.

Riddick thinks the Steelers hit a home run in the deal for Fields. All the cards fell perfectly for them.

“This is a home run for them,” Riddick said on Saturday night’s Sportscenter. “It’s a home run for Omar Khan. It’s a home run for Mike Tomlin.

Mike Tomlin reportedly made it clear to Russell Wilson that he’ll be the starting quarterback and Fields will serve as the backup. Riddick thinks there needs to be a true QB competition, however.

“Quite honestly, I think they need to open this thing wide up. Wide open competition between Russell and Justin and let the chips fall wherever they may be. Brilliant deal for them.”

Riddick thinks Steelers general manager Omar Khan’s patience paid dividends. He let the market come to him.

“(I recently said) it would be very Pittsburgh for them to just sit back and wait and let the market play itself out. Let the market come to them because they knew in their mind that Chicago was gonna move on,” Riddick said.

The Philadelphia Eagles have a new backup quarterback in Kenny Pickett after the Steelers dealt Pickett on Friday. But that almost did not happen, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN. Graziano states that Pittsburgh was the second team the Eagles called, as Philadelphia looked first to see if they could land Fields.

“The Eagles, from what I understand talking to sources around the league, were one of the teams that had talked to the Bears about Justin Fields, but obviously could not get to the point where they agreed on a price, so they traded for Pickett,” Graziano said.

Khan’s savviness and patience paid off for the Steelers in the end. They call him “The Khan Artist” for a reason. To get Fields  for just a sixth-round pick that can become a conditional fourth-round is a true steal and home run.