Lions' Dan Campbell: It's 'Nice' to Have Justin Fields out of Division After Trade

Justin Fields had a surprisingly tepid trade market before being sent to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this month, but at least one opposing coach is happy to no longer have him on his schedule twice per year.

"I'm not going to lie, it's nice to have Fields out of that division," Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell told reporters Tuesday.

The Steelers traded a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick to the Bears in exchange for Fields earlier this month. The haul was considered significantly below what most expected Chicago to land for the 2021 first-round pick, who is expected to back up veteran Russell Wilson next season.

While Fields never put up garish passing stats against Campbell's Lions, he gave the defense headaches with his legs. He rushed for 441 yards in four games against Detroit over the last two seasons, though Chicago went 1-3 in those contests.

Campbell isn't just praising Fields now that he's gone, either. The Lions coach lauded Fields' year-over-year development last December.

"Listen, he's dangerous," Campbell told reporters. "He's one of these rare, dangerous players and I'll tell you what he's done a really good job of — from last year to this year — is if it's a pass and he starts to move, he's still moving with eyes down the field much more than I felt like he had previously and that's extremely dangerous because even in Minnesota, he had two or three receivers wide open after he had kind of run, found a way through, broke contain and all of a sudden he gets an explosive pass off of it.

"But he is dangerous, and everything starts with him, for us defensively, and containing these guys."

Given the compliments regarding Fields' physical skill set in recent days—Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he "oozes talent"—it remains a little befuddling that Pittsburgh landed him for such a small price. Fields just turned 25, clearly has a ton of positive physical traits and was available for a Day 3 selection.

A lot of teams may come to regret their lack of interest in the coming years.