When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded to acquire Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears, they did so with a deadline approaching in under two months. Since Fields was a first-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, he is entering the final year of his rookie deal, but all first-round picks have a fifth-year option that teams can exercise to get an extra year of team control at an amount that is determined by their play time and accolades up to that point.
For Fields, he has not been named to any Pro Bowls, so his option would fall under the play time category. That number would be $25,664,000 fully guaranteed for the 2025 season, per Over The Cap. All signs point to Russell Wilson being the starter and Fields the backup, and reports indicate the Steelers and Wilson have a mutual interest in extending his deal beyond the one-year contract he is currently signed under.
For those reasons, it seems unlikely that the Steelers would exercise the option to pay a backup that type of money. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac joined The Rich Eisen Show on Monday and discussed the option decision.
“Justin Fields, of course, now he’s in the final year of his rookie contract. The Steelers are not going to pick up his option. They’re not expected to pick up his option,” Dulac said in a video clip of the Rich Eisen Show posted on YouTube. “I don’t think there’s anything, I’m assuming, to preclude them from redoing his contract and maybe making it a two-year, three-year deal.”
This would be the best path forward for the Steelers if they do indeed plan to decline the option: to turn around and work on an extension of some kind. Otherwise, Fields will be an unrestricted free agent next season and free to negotiate with whomever he chooses. Both Wilson and Fields are in the same situation there, with no team control beyond 2024, assuming the option is declined on Fields.
This is, of course, assuming that Fields and his agent are comfortable with accepting a two or three-year deal, as Dulac speculated. If he does, there is a chance he could sit behind Wilson for more than just 2024 due to the reported mutual interest in an extension.
Either way, the conditional 2025 sixth-round pick invested in Fields allows for this type of flexibility. If the draft capital investment were higher, it would be a much more urgent situation for the Steelers to figure out. If they go the extension route, it would presumably be at a lower average value than the nearly $25.67 million option amount.
The deadline is May 2nd, a little over six weeks from now. If it is declined, as expected, all eyes will turn to how the Steelers handle their quarterback room, which currently has nobody under contract for 2025.
