Even after the Pittsburgh Steelers traded for QB Justin Fields, they reportedly told Russell Wilson that he still will be the starter in 2024.
Longtime NFL reporter Jason La Canfora isn’t convinced. He joined the Jason Smith Show on Fox Sports Radio on Tuesday, and he was quite clear about his expectations for Fields.
“I think Justin Fields is their starting quarterback,” La Canfora said after Smith spoke about his thoughts on Fields starting by Week 6. “I think he’d have to have a catastrophic preseason for it not to happen. There’s a lot of people in that Steelers building who were very high on Justin Fields.”
La Canfora’s declaration may come as a surprise since the Steelers reportedly told Fields after the trade went through that he will be the backup. However, this would not be the first time that the Steelers have reversed course on their quarterback position.
After the 2023 season ended, head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about finding competition for Kenny Pickett but that he would be viewed as the starter. Tomlin never spoke ill of Pickett despite the latter’s struggles last season and seemed to consistently support Pickett. So when the Steelers signed Wilson and reportedly decided to give him first crack at the starting job, the situation fell apart with Pickett.
So could the Steelers do that again, this time with Fields supplanting Wilson as the starter in training camp? Jeff Darlington thinks that could be the case as he articulated on Tuesday’s episode of Get Up on ESPN.
There’s also the big link of Steelers Director of Player Scouting Mark Sadowski. Not only is he responsible for looking into players, but he also has a prior relationship with Fields. He was the Director of College Scouting for the Chicago Bears in 2021 when the Bears drafted Fields in the first round. It’s hard to believe that the Steelers made the trade without Sadowski weighing in and being that he would have helped scout Fields in college, he likely had positive things to say about him.
As for other people in the building who were very high on Fields that La Canfora mentioned, Tomlin could be another one alongside Sadowski. He attended Fields’ Pro Day at Ohio State along with former general manager Kevin Colbert. It is possible that they were there to look at offensive linemen because former offensive line coach Adrian Klemm was in attendance as well, but Tomlin was spotted talking with Fields.
“You know what we came to see… Give it to me, baby” is a pretty darn strong quote from Tomlin about wanting to see Fields. While the Steelers did not come out of the 2021 NFL Draft with Fields due to the Bears taking him 11th overall (the Steelers had the 24th overall pick), Fields eventually made his way to Pittsburgh via trade.
Also of interest is how Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith views Fields. Smith was the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons heading into the 2021 season. He saw Fields work out in person at the same Pro Day that Tomlin attended. When Fields held a second Pro Day, the Falcons were in attendance again, this time with their quarterbacks coach among other personnel. The Falcons ultimately took TE Kyle Pitts with the fourth overall pick rather than Fields.
However, it makes no sense for the Steelers to make the Fields trade without Smith on board. So it will be very interesting to see how Smith approaches a chance at coaching Fields. Is there potential that there was a disagreement between Smith and Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot on which direction to go with the fourth overall pick? Absolutely. There is also the possibility that the Falcons were simply trying to go all in with QB Matt Ryan in 2021 and wanted to give him a dynamic weapon in Pitts.
No matter why things happened in 2021 the way they did, the reality is that Tomlin and Smith are going to coach Fields in 2024. La Canfora believes that will be happening with Fields as the starter unless things go quite badly during training camp. There is no question that Fields gives the Steelers a more dynamic weapon at quarterback due to his athleticism.
If Fields does start Week 1, it wouldn’t be the first time this offseason that the Steelers said one thing and did something else.
