Before Taylor Heinicke was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers in late August, the front office had their eyes on another backup: Justin Fields.
Along with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles was among three other teams involved in potential trade talks with the Chicago Bears.
Fields revealed on his teammate Cam Heyward's podcast that the Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, and Las Vegas Raiders were other interested teams.
“I’m not sure of all the teams, but there were a lot of teams that already had solidified quarterbacks and I didn’t want to do that. Chargers were one, Ravens were another,” Fields said.
“Raiders, they talked a little bit. I don’t know too much. Who else was in there I don’t know, but a lot of teams had solidified quarterbacks who just got new contracts so I didn’t want to be there.”
Fields would've never been able to take the starting job in Los Angeles. Justin Herbert is a franchise quarterback who Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh adores.
The same goes for Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. The only interested team that had question marks at the quarterback position was the Raiders.
Nevertheless, we know how the story goes. The Bears traded Fields to the Steelers where he was set to stand behind starting quarterback Russell Wilson. After Wilson sustained a calf injury, Fields has led the Pittsburgh offense for the first three weeks of the season.
In Week 3, Fields and company managed to hand the Chargers their first loss of the season. The Steelers quarterback was 25 for 32 and threw for 245 yards against the Bolts.
His performance thus far has people questioning whether the Bears should've traded him in the first place.
The Chargers' 20-10 loss to the Steelers featured a major setback for the team when Herbert reaggravated his ankle injury.
Herbert played 36 snaps in Pittsburgh but was replaced by veteran backup quarterback Heinicke. Herbert has a strong first-half performance, completing 12 of 16 passes for 125 yards.
Harbaugh explained why he allowed Herbert to play in Week 3, despite the ankle injury.
"The other [decision] would be, 'No, you can't play. We're going to take it out of your hands and [not] let a warrior be a warrior.' That doesn't resonate with me," Harbaugh said via the team transcript. "And it's Justin Herbert. That don't make them like him. I thought he did great."
Herbert might have to battle through his injury once again this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chargers/ as Steelers Quarterback Admits Chargers Nearly Traded For Him.