Inherently, when you take a swing at quarterback, you bring on risk. You’re in “sink or swim” territory and you don’t know until you push your boat out into the middle of the ocean. When it comes to the most important position in sports, there’s always a what if in trying something new.
But for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve managed that risk as well as you could’ve expected. While there’s questions about the ceilings of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the team has added two starting-caliber quarterbacks at almost no cost. Did the team make major waves at the position? Absolutely, the entire room from last season is different. But if it doesn’t work out, and that’s always a question in the back of your head, the Steelers have cost themselves little. This isn’t a team in desperation making knee-jerk moves for the long haul. They were patient, weighed options, and proved to be light on their feet, making a great deal for Fields after Kenny Pickett got his wish out of town.
This offseason afforded Pittsburgh two unique opportunities. The chance to sign a Super Bowl veteran like Wilson, whose game isn’t in free-fall decline, for the veteran minimum. Because Denver was on the hook for nearly all of his 2024 salary, the Steelers could sign him for $1.2 million. In any other situation, any other year, a quarterback like Wilson would’ve cost more. Way more. And that may have frozen the Steelers out of targeting him, spending good money on a 35-year-old and officially ending any semblance of a quarterback competition.
For Justin Fields, the Steelers’ spent draft capital was pennies on the dollar. A 2025 conditional sixth-round pick that becomes a fourth if he logs 51 percent of the 2024 offensive snaps. Fields’ market was light, but he was, in part, only available because the Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick and are set to draft USC’s Caleb Williams. That pick isn’t their own but comes via Carolina, which dealt its 2024 first-round pick last year to move up to No. 1 in 2023, trading with Chicago to take Bryce Young. Again, just rare things that don’t align so perfectly. And Pittsburgh took advantage. A quarterback still young and with upside, it’s a low-risk play. With such little traded away, there’s no pressure to pick up his fifth-year option.
The Steelers can let the 2024 season play out for both men, Wilson and Fields, and evaluate after the year. They’re not in a rush to decide who their long-term option is but they’ll have choices once the year wraps up.
On paper, it’s a better room. Wilson-Fields is a stronger group than Pickett-Trubisky-Rudolph, and the Steelers will still add two more quarterbacks ahead of spring practices. Pittsburgh got better at the game’s most important position without needing to push its chips all in. Often, teams without a franchise quarterback flail and risk or pay out the nose for an alternative.
Kirk Cousins should provide solid quarterback play for the Atlanta Falcons but they’re paying for it, four years, $180 million. To put that in perspective, taking just his yearly average value of $45 million and extrapolating that per game, it works out to $2.65 million per game. A larger number than the combined base salaries of Fields and Wilson across this entire 2024 season. Other teams have made more foolish investments. The Las Vegas Raiders signed QB Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.75 million deal last March. The head coach and general manager got fired and the team cut Garoppolo weeks ago, only given a bit of grace from his PED suspension that’ll recoup the Raiders some of their money. He’s just one of many quarterback overpays by teams desperate for a starter.
Or teams look towards the draft and the risk that comes with that. It also brings plenty of reward, and I’ve always advocated this is the best path to find a true franchise arm, but teams like the Steelers don’t have the “luxury” of picking top five. Meaning, settling for the third or fourth-best option or trading the farm to move up. The San Francisco 49ers tried that for Trey Lance, whiffing on the pick and shipping him to Dallas last season. Finding Brock Purdy in the seventh round is the only reason that miss isn’t discussed more.
The Steelers aren’t taking those gambles. They’re not writing a blank check to a veteran quarterback. They’re not mortgaging the future for a draft pick. Their quarterback play should produce better results this year and it’s unlikely they get any worse. The risk of backsliding and regret are low. And if the results are poor? If Pittsburgh is again one-and-done or misses the playoffs? That’ll sting, their drought will continue, but the Steelers – if they want – can wipe their hands clean in 2025. Wilson and Fields, so long as his fifth-year option is declined, will become free agents. All they’ve have lost is a veteran minimum salary and Day 3 pick.
That isn’t to say the Steelers are in a perfect situation. They’re not. Wilson is in his mid-30s, shown the door by Denver, and on a one-year deal. Fields is a highly inconsistent player who turns the ball over too much. Both definitely hold onto the ball far too long. The Steelers still aren’t Super Bowl contenders under either player. And the team still lacks clarity on who its quarterback of 2025, much less the long-term, will be. Again, add a couple new quarterbacks into the mix and you’re always introducing risk (will the rookie succeed? will this journeyman vet find a home here? will this highly paid free agent eat up too much cap, preventing us from building around him?).
But Pittsburgh gets to use 2024 to figure it out. Can Wilson bounce back? Can Fields be developed? That’s what this season is for.
The Steelers are renting an RV. They can be great to take that long road trip with. Go camping in the woods, make some awesome memories. But a new RV comes with plenty of risk, not regulated under Lemon Law protection the way cars and trucks are. The horror stories run deep. If you want to buy an RV, the smart move is to rent one. Or buy one used. Make sure you want an RV and that it won’t fall apart the second you drive it off the lot.
That’s Pittsburgh. A trial run with Wilson, a trial run with Fields. And if it goes wrong, the Steelers can wipe their hands clean and start again in 2025. And if it goes right, they’ll feel confident in making a long-term commitment to either quarterback.
