There’s quite a bit of excitement ahead of the 2024 season surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers, due to a busy offseason that saw significant roster changes under GM Omar Khan.
No changes were bigger than the ones that occurred in the quarterback room. The Steelers, as is well known, brought in the likes of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, and moved on from Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph in a QB room remodeling.
As things currently stand, Wilson is the starting quarterback, entering the offseason in the “pole position” while Fields will get a chance to compete when appropriate and is being viewed as the backup.
But that isn’t stopping the talk about a true QB competition in Pittsburgh. For ESPN’s Dan Graziano, in a piece for ESPN.com Wednesday morning, the biggest “lingering question” for the Steelers at QB remains who emerges as the starter.
“It looks like a camp competition between newly acquired veteran Russell Wilson and newly acquired youngster Justin Fields,” Graziano writes. “…Coach Mike Tomlin has said Wilson opens the offseason as the ‘starter,’ but Fields will get a chance to compete and show what he can do. Whichever one of them shows the greatest aptitude for Arthur Smith’s offense throughout the offseason and in training camp should get the Week 1 nod — and the first opportunity to audition to be the team’s quarterback beyond 2024.”
Since the Steelers signed Wilson in free agency and then traded for Fields in mid-March, much of the talk has centered on Wilson being the QB1 and Fields getting a chance to reset and learn from a quarterback he’s long modeled his game after.
But now, as the start of Organized Team Activities, minicamp and training camp draw closer and closer, the conversation is starting to shift quite a bit. Now, people like Graziano, ESPN Steelers beat writer Brooke Pryor and other talking heads are starting to believe this will be a true competition.
Maybe it will be. The Steelers aren’t financially committed to Wilson after signing him to a one-year, $1.21 million deal, so there is no incentive to just hand him the job right out of the gate. The Steelers aren’t financially committed to Fields after the 2024 season, either, though there are multiple reports that long-term deals with both quarterbacks are what the Steelers want.
With a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith in the fold as well, Wilson and Fields are entering their time in Pittsburgh on the same footing, in a sense. Neither has any equity with the Steelers from a teammate and coaching perspective, and they are learning a new system together.
Therefore, the Steelers are certainly in a position to give the reins to the quarterback who performs the best in training camp and the preseason. Maybe that’s Wilson. It could be Fields.
But the fact that we’re now discussing a potential competition signals that there are many questions left to be answered this offseason by the Steelers, especially under center.
