The notion of a quarterback competition has dominated headlines for the Pittsburgh Steelers ever since Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were brought in during free agency, turning the page from Kenny Pickett and the quarterback room of 2023. Head coach Mike Tomlin was very careful with his words when asked about the nature of the competition, saying that Wilson has “pole position.”
Competition is always a good thing, and it can bring out the best in both players as they push themselves to earn the starting job. Reports indicated that Wilson received most of the first team reps throughout spring practices, which should be no surprise given Tomlin’s comments. Most local and national insiders have already started to write Wilson’s name in pen as the starter, but the Steelers have not made any further comments on naming an official starter. Why would they?
“I’d look for the Pittsburgh Steelers to keep pushing Russell Wilson,” wrote SI.com’s Albert Breer earlier today. “Through the spring, neither Wilson nor Justin Fields lit the world on fire in Pittsburgh. But what the staff did see was a motivated Wilson, who benefitted from the competition Fields was giving him. So I’ll be interested to see how long Pittsburgh waits to shut down any notion of one.
“Yes, it can help to fully declare your starter. But there is something to the benefit the Steelers are getting from having two guys in contract years battling to get on, and stay on, the field. And if the benefit to this point has been Wilson operating like he’s got horse blinders on, maybe it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to go away from that.”
Wilson hasn’t been involved in a true competition since his rookie season when he was competing against newly signed QB Matt Flynn with the Seattle Seahawks. He was a third-round draft pick at the time and up against a fairly sizable free-agent contract for Flynn. By all accounts, he thrived in that environment, and it helped launch a 10-year period of success in Seattle, including a Super Bowl championship in 2014.
Since then, he has been the undisputed starter on every team that he’s been a part of. The Denver Broncos practically rolled out the red carpet for him with a blockbuster trade followed by a historic contract extension with high guarantees. There was no possibility of a competition. His tenure in Denver did not work out, and he was humbled late in his career with a benching and subsequent release despite being on the hook for $37.79 million for the 2024 season and $32 million in 2025.
This allowed him to sign with the Steelers for the veteran minimum of $1.21 million on a one-year deal, but with that low price tag comes low security. Regardless of whether Wilson is the better option for the 2024 season, he is a decade older than Fields and has a shorter shelf life remaining in his career. The media has done plenty to fuel the competition, with several analysts still predicting that Fields earns the job either in camp or at some point during the season.
Wilson hasn’t directly credited the competition for these comments, but he did say during one of his post-practice interviews at minicamp that he feels like he has found the “fountain of youth.” A little urgency from the competition could have him feeling young again.
If Tomlin senses that competition is bringing out the best in Wilson, could we see them wait until Week 1, during Mike Tomlin’s first press conference, to name a starter officially? It will likely come earlier than that but expect talks of a competition to span pretty deep into training camp.
