Thanks to the maneuvering at quarterback that brought Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in, Steve Palazzolo believes the Pittsburgh Steelers are putting together a strong offseason for themselves. They turned over the entire room from last season, and continue to refresh the roster in a variety of ways. Still, it’s the moves at the top—at the quarterback position—that stand out most.
“It’s probably just reshaping the quarterback room overall and doing it on the cheap”, Palazzolo told Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan when asked for the Steelers’ best move. “Of all the options that they could have, getting a super cheap Russell Wilson and bringing [in] Justin Fields to potentially develop and see what you can get out of his potential is a really nice offseason”.
He did stress that he’s not saying these moves are going to result in a Super Bowl title, most likely. Given the circumstances that they faced beginning with Kenny Pickett, however, he is impressed how they pivoted in another direction. He is far from alone in his complimentary analysis of how the Steelers managed the quarterback position this offseason, either.
The Steelers started off by releasing Mitch Trubisky, a move that everybody expected. Once they got serious about pursuing Wilson, everything seemed to change. The resulting move caused Pickett to request a trade, and the Steelers obliged him. They turned around and caught the Chicago Bears over a barrel, landing Fields for a bargain.
Pittsburgh traded a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025 for Fields, a pick that has a ceiling of a fourth rounder. As for Wilson, they only have to pay him the minimum salary this season, the Denver Broncos footing the rest. They fully guaranteed his 2024 salary, and with offset language in his contract, he had no incentive to sign for more.
All told, they gave up likely a sixth-round pick and Pickett in exchange for Fields, two seventh-round picks, and swapping out a fourth-round pick for a third. They earned a net cap savings by releasing Trubisky and signing Wilson. They still need to replace Rudolph as the third quarterback, however, which may come through the draft.
The Steelers, to their credit, took advantage of uncommon opportunities to, giving them low-risk, high-reward players with talent. In Wilson’s case, it’s a matter of finding his old self within him; for Fields, it’s finding his new self. He’s still young and coming out of a system that most agree did him no favors.
None of this guarantees that these moves work out, as Palazzolo rightly pointed out. But they took two swings at improving the room, both for now and the future, and did so at minimal risk and minimal cost. It’s hard to get too upset about that, really, though many find ways to manage.
