Justin Fields was always viewed as a potential (and hoped for) candidate to join the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. As soon as the Chicago Bears locked in the first overall pick, everyone assumed they would take USC QB Caleb Williams. That would mean Fields would be available for trade.
What most people did not think was that the Steelers would get him for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sure, it can become a fourth-round pick if Fields plays 51 percent or more of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in 2024, but that is dirt cheap for a quarterback who has 38 career starts under his belt in his first three seasons in the league.
Greg Cosell has some thoughts on what that means for how Fields is viewed leaguewide. On Thursday’s episode of the Xs And Os Show With Greg Cosell, Cosell and co-host Doug Farrar broke down the Fields trade.
“I think the league told you what he doesn’t do well is see the field playing from the pocket,” Cosell said. “It has to be really well-defined, and you can do that. But you can’t do that all the time. So clearly the league felt that he’s so poor in that area that he, I guess he’s irredeemable as far as the league is concerned… No one saw him as a starting quarterback.”
The crux of Cosell’s argument about how the league evaluated Fields is the paltry compensation he fetched in a trade. It’s hard to argue that given the number of teams that went out and acquired starting or backup quarterbacks this offseason. The vast majority of those teams paid more in money or trade compensation than the Steelers did for Fields.
As Cosell pointed out, the league is hesitant to commit to Fields because of his struggles throwing the football. He has improved his completion percentage every year but even last year’s total was only 61.4 percent. He has yet to throw for 20-plus touchdowns in a season (17 is his career-high in 2022).
Steeler Depot’s Alex Kozora did a film study on Fields’ flaws and highlighted his tendency for making big negative plays. His sack numbers and turnovers are big problems. As Kozora notes, the Steelers relied last year on limiting the negative plays on offense to keep them in games. Cutting those negative plays down will be a necessity for Fields to have success in Pittsburgh.
Cosell acknowledges that Fields’ issues show up on tape. He just doesn’t agree that Fields can’t be a starting quarterback.
“Can you line up with Justin Fields and play?” Cosell asked. “I think you can. Obviously, the league said that you can’t as a starting quarterback.”
Part of the reason that Cosell thinks Fields can play in the league is that he also can create big plays. He’s a threat in the ground game with a career 6.2 yards per carry. He led the league in 2022 with 7.1 yards per carry. He also scored eight touchdowns on the ground that season.
Fields is no lost cause, but it’s evident that teams are leery of his struggles. For both Fields’ sake and the Steelers’ future, everyone in Pittsburgh is hoping that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith can do for Fields what he did for Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans.
Because even a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft is more than worth finding a quality starting quarterback in the NFL.
You can watch the entire conversation about NFL free agency between Cosell and Farrar below:
