The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly view themselves as having two starting quarterbacks now following the additions of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson over the course of the first week of free agency. Both came cheap as the Steelers overhauled their quarterback room for a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick and a veteran minimum deal. With Ryan Clark hosting ESPN’s Get Up Tuesday morning, they kicked things off by discussing his former team and he posed the question of who won the Fields trade between the Steelers and the Chicago Bears.
“This wasn’t even close, right? This is the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was a giveaway,” Mel Kiper said via a clip of the segment posted on YouTube. “He can work in unison with Russell Wilson. He can give you packages and get defensive coordinators not one but two quarterbacks to have to defend against and prepare for.”
One of the storylines that will be discussed between now and training camp ad nauseam is whether Fields will push to start at some point this season. But maybe he doesn’t have to start to see the field and make an impact. In the final year of his rookie deal, assuming the Steelers don’t exercise his fifth-year option, they have every reason to work him into the game plan and get him on the field in creative ways.
They need to be able to evaluate Fields, so they can make an informed decision about his contract next offseason when he can hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Teams have limited practice time each week, so having to prepare for Wilson and Fields has the potential of keeping defensive coordinators up at night for the possibility of some specialized packages that the Steelers could employ.
Fields will also have the opportunity to work behind someone he models his game after, and for the first time in his career he doesn’t have the pressure of being the former first-round pick who is the unquestioned starter — and face — for a struggling franchise.
“This is a steal for the Pittsburgh Steelers and in a division where I’m sure the Ravens, the Bengals, and the Browns are not thrilled about this,” Kiper said. “The Steelers and Justin Fields is a match made in heaven…If it’s Russell Wilson’s job, you can work [Fields] in, he will be on the field giving defenses a lot to worry about. It’s a win-win for the Steelers.”
Coach Mike Tomlin has discussed the importance of quarterback mobility on several occasions over the last few years as the position continues to trend in that direction. Specifically, toward the end of 2022 when preparing to play the Baltimore Ravens, he discussed how hard it is to defend against a good running team that also has a mobile quarterback. Here is what he had to say about it then:
“Traditional offenses, non-running quarterbacks, they play with 10, essentially, in the running game. When you have quarterback mobility and the willingness to use it, you play with 11.”
Now the Steelers have two quarterbacks who are capable in that area. Wilson’s game has evolved over the years, and he uses his legs more to extend plays or take off when plays break down, but Fields is more than capable of being used on designed quarterback runs. The Steelers’ rushing attack took off at the end of last season and was one of the best in the league over that time. Now they have an added element that can help take it to the next level.
