Depending on who you talk to, read, or listen to, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson has an ironclad guarantee to be the starter in Week 1. That’s what The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly said this past Sunday on the #1 Cochran Sports Showdown. But what does that mean for Justin Fields? Is this a situation where Fields has no hope during training camp?
Whether that’s indeed the case or not, that guarantee likely goes away if Wilson fails to perform once the games are real. While some other high-profile quarterbacks with younger players behind them have a big investment by their teams sunk into them, Wilson doesn’t.
“That minimal investment by Pittsburgh means there will be little to keep it from turning to Fields if Wilson struggles,” Judy Battista wrote in her Bold Predictions for 2024 article on NFL.com. “Arthur Smith is an experienced and successful offensive coordinator, but any struggle by Wilson — and playing against the defenses in the AFC North gives quarterbacks plenty of chances to struggle — will open the door to Fields, whom the Steelers would almost certainly like to see play before having to decide on his future. I’m calling it: Wilson wins the starting job out of camp, but he won’t hold on to it, and Fields will have Terrible Towels waving for him.”
You can agree with the sentiment of people like Kaboly regarding Wilson being the Week 1 starter. Or you can give that opinion that there is literally nothing Wilson or Fields can do this summer (short of an injury-related situation) to have Fields open 2024 as the starter. Regardless, there are plenty of people who expect that it will be Wilson under center when the Steelers play the Falcons in Atlanta to start the season.
As for how long Wilson continues to start, there is something to be said about the lack of financial investment the Steelers have in him. Despite the fact that he will be making a lot of money this year, the Denver Broncos are on the hook for just about all of that. The Steelers won’t feel any pressure to keep forcing the issue with a highly paid quarterback in 2024.
Regarding Fields, the Steelers don’t have a lot invested in him either. They traded a conditional sixth-round pick for him that becomes a fourth-round pick if he starts at least 51 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps in 2024. He’s still on his rookie contract and the Steelers declined his fifth-year option.
Fields has two big things going for him in 2024: He’s young, and he’s an elite athlete. Wilson is going to turn 36 during the 2024 season while Fields turned 25 in March. As for the athleticism, in a situation when you have two quarterbacks who aren’t playing at an elite level, Fields at least does offer something that is elite. He’s proven to be a great runner at the quarterback spot in his first three seasons with 6.2 yards per carry and 14 rushing touchdowns.
Wilson makes sense for the Steelers, who are looking to win now. They need to win playoff games, not just make it to the playoffs again. However, Fields represents potential for the future, and the Steelers need to find out if he can deliver on that. If Wilson looks like he’s not going to be able to deliver on the prospect of winning playoff football, then it makes all the sense in the world to turn to Fields.
