By signing Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields, the Pittsburgh Steelers got better at quarterback this offseason. That shouldn’t be in dispute. How far it can take them is another discussion and despite the upgrade, the Steelers still don’t have the look of transforming into true Super Bowl contenders. But they’re in position to win a playoff game and snap their seven-year drought.
The driving force behind these moves just might come with another quarterback controversy.
The facts. The Steelers don’t have a clear long-term franchise quarterback. Wilson and Fields are currently under contract through 2024, Fields cementing that status assuming the Steelers decline his fifth-year option due in May. There isn’t a Ben Roethlisberger type where the thought doesn’t form. The Steelers have two quarterbacks who were starters last season. Wilson in Denver, Fields in Chicago. And these are two quarterbacks who have their flaws. Wilson isn’t the playmaker he once was while Fields’ game runs hot and cold. Both have too many negative outcomes. We know that Wilson is in “pole position” to start but just because you start there, doesn’t mean you end there.
I don’t know when it’s going to happen but at some point this season, we’ll talk about Wilson versus Fields. At the moment, it appears Wilson is the starter, Fields the backup. But the conversation, at least in media circles, will shift. To an extent, it already has, with some believing Fields will take over as soon as Week 1.
Assume Wilson enters the year as the starter. At some point in the season, he’s going to falter. That’s natural for almost all quarterbacks over a 17-game season, even the top names. And Wilson, while his game isn’t in free fall, isn’t the quarterback he once was. There’s a reason why the Broncos chose to eat a record amount of dead money and pay him nearly $40 million to not play for them. He’ll make plays, more than the Steelers have gotten the last two years, but he’ll make his mistakes, too.
Which will lead to calls for Fields. Right or wrong, that conversation will begin after Wilson’s first mistake. A talented and dynamic backup, Fields will probably have a small package of plays to begin the year. He’ll show off his legs, his big-play ability, an element the Steelers haven’t had since Kordell Stewart. He’ll frustrate but he’ll excite this fan base looking for any semblance of the idea from its quarterbacks. And he should have an impressive preseason. A top athlete with a big arm facing backups in the summer. He’ll make plays, he’ll draw buzz.
And he’ll be a tantalizing alternative if Wilson falters. Internally, the Steelers may preach patience and they may be right for it. We don’t know if Wilson will have a quick hook. But externally, that conversation is going to get plastered locally and nationally. There’s nothing that drives the NFL more than a quarterback controversy between two “known” players like Wilson and Fields. Naturally, that’ll seep into the locker room, the media asking Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith, and players if the team is considering a change. The same way it played out last year between Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. The only two ways a controversy can be avoided over the course of the entire 2024 season are if Wilson is awesome wire-to-wire or if someone gets seriously hurt.
Will a change or, at least, the discussion be warranted? Maybe. It simply depends on how the tape looks. All I’m telling you is the reality. At some point, it’ll become the headline we’re talking about day after day. Maybe that’ll occur in training camp. Or ahead of Week 1. Or Week 4, Week 8, or Week 13. I can’t predict that. But get ready. It’s coming. And it will be a loud conversation.
