The Pittsburgh Steelers completely overhauled their quarterback room in a week’s time. Out with Kenny Pickett, in with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. One report indicated that the Steelers view themselves as having two starting quarterbacks on the roster now, but several other reports have stated that both quarterbacks were made aware of the depth chart. Wilson is to be the starter, and Fields is to be the backup.
Given how the Pickett trade went down with him requesting his way out of town after reportedly feeling misled about the nature of the quarterback competition, it seems likely that assurances were made to Wilson before he agreed to come to Pittsburgh that he would start.
Prior to Wilson being acquired, I expressed doubt in several different articles that Wilson would agree to come somewhere on the minimum salary. It makes no financial difference to him, with the Denver Broncos picking up the tab in 2024, but signing at the minimum would signify very little investment into Wilson. That is exactly what he ended up doing, which leaves the Steelers with a world of possibilities.
Adam Schefter appeared on ESPN’s NFL Live on Tuesday afternoon and discussed the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh.
“Think about the investment they have in each player. They essentially are giving Russell Wilson $1.2 million, while the Denver Broncos are paying him almost $38 million this year. Very little investment,” Schefter said. “They gave up a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick for Justin Fields. Very little investment…They have the luxury of letting this play out during camp and doing whatever is best for that football team.”
It cannot be stressed enough that Wilson is only owed $1.21 million by the Steelers. If he struggles, or he is outperformed, they could release him and it would almost be as if the move never happened. Basically no money would be wasted. One NFL executive seems to think there is a possibility of that happening.
“There’s no commitment, obligation, loyalty to any of these guys. They didn’t pay very much for either one of them,” Schefter said. “I even had an executive say if Justin Fields outplayed him, Russell Wilson, during training camp, they could see them moving on from him before the season.”
That would certainly be a wild turn of events, but Schefter is as connected as anybody. That is how NFL executives think and unfortunately for Wilson, there is almost nothing stopping the team from moving on if they deem it the right move.
If indeed Wilson was made assurances about starting and that doesn’t end up being the case, it might not be the ideal situation for the locker room to keep him around. In the end, the best-case scenario for the Steelers would be Fields winning the battle and being the franchise quarterback for the team for the next decade or more. Nothing against Wilson, but he is ten years older than Fields and closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
The Steelers made one difficult decision at the end of last season to ride the hot hand of Mason Rudolph leaving Pickett on the bench, and that was with Pickett having a first-round pick invested in him. Now, both players have next to nothing invested in them, and that leaves the door open to any number of possibilities.
