Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan probably didn’t think they stood much chance of landing Russell Wilson or Justin Fields this offseason. Perhaps at that point, he and the team genuinely remained committed to Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. But when opportunities slap you in the face, you have to pay attention at some point.
Who knows what they knew and when they knew it, but the end result is the same. The Steelers not only turned over their quarterback room in one season, but they did so on a budget. They are paying Russell Wilson all of $1,210,000 this year, which is the minimum a player of his experience earns. Justin Fields comes with a $3,233,448 cap hit, including $1,616,724 in base salary and another $1,616,724 roster bonus.
That totals out to $4,443,448, and factoring in roster displacement, the total net cap impact is $2,613,448 so far. They still have to add another quarterback, and we don’t know yet who, but chances are he won’t cost much.
The story of the Steelers’ quarterback maneuvers this offseason is a simple one: opportunism. They took advantage of two teams in a bind to wrangle out players with some potential on the cheap. Wilson is a borderline Hall of Famer who isn’t completely without merit. Fields is a flawed but talented and young, athletic phenom.
But the Denver Broncos saddled themselves with a bad contract and then hired a head coach who didn’t seem to like Wilson. Even though he improved considerably in 2023, Sean Payton wanted him gone long before they benched him.
Understand, Denver didn’t decide to take a hit to simply remove him from the team. They cut him because if they hadn’t, they would have guaranteed another $37 million in 2025. It’s a matter of cutting your losses.
And the Steelers took advantage of the extremely rare situation due to the offset language in his contract. The Broncos still owed him $39 million for 2024, but any salary he earns from a new team gets deducted. When you have a player like Wilson available for a minimum salary, you have to at least take a look.
As for Fields, the Steelers didn’t think he merited the risk until the Bears substantially dropped his asking price. To get him for a conditional 2025 sixth-round pick on conditions he’s unlikely to meet is great value. It certainly makes much more sense than taking a sixth-round flyer on another Chris Oladokun.
The Steelers rebuilt this quarterback room almost by accident—well, not accidentally, per se, but fortuitously. I believe there was a realistic scenario in which Pickett and Rudolph were still on the roster this year. But because opportunities arose at their feet, they simply took advantage. How that works out in the long run, who’s to say, but the point is, they did it their way. On the cheap.
