The Pittsburgh Steelers brought in two capable starting quarterbacks this offseason by signing Russell Wilson and trading for Justin Fields, and the inevitable debate about which one will start has been a hot topic for talk show fodder throughout the last few weeks. On ESPN’s Get Up! this morning, former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum was asked whether he thinks the Steelers will play both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in Week One, and while he does think the team will, he hopes they don’t, recalling the time he traded for Tim Tebow and the Jets had a package for him, something that didn’t work out. He thinks the Steelers should just pick one quarterback.
“I think you have to declare who your quarterback is and move forward,” Tannenbaum said. He then added that he hopes it will be Justin Fields, and believes that winning the job in Pittsburgh would change the trajectory of Fields’ career.
“If I’m Justin Fields, I am dying to win this job, because if I do, it just changes the trajectory of my career,” Tannenbaum said. “Look, Russell Wilson obviously deserves a ton of credit. He obviously loves football, but he’s much closer to the end. And if Mike Tomlin was telling the absolute truth, of course they’re gonna root for Justin Fields because of his age. If they hit on him, they have their quarterback for their next decade.”
I don’t necessarily think the Steelers are rooting for any particular person in the quarterback battle. Whoever wins it will hopefully be an upgrade over Kenny Pickett. Fields does present more of a long-term option given that he’s just 25 years old. The other thing to consider with that, though, is if Fields wins the job and plays well, the Steelers are likely going to have to pay a lot of money to keep him in Pittsburgh long-term. That’s obviously not something that should stop the Steelers from playing Fields if he’s the best option, but just something worth noting when considering the possibility that Fields could be the best option.
Right now, it seems as if Wilson is the clear favorite to win the job, but the team could implement a package for Fields, which is where the initial conversation kicked off with Tannebaum believing Fields should be the guy for the Steelers. The latest reporting from Jeremy Fowler has been that essentially, Wilson will start but Fields could come in around the goal line in a package that best uses his athleticism, and I think that’s a lot more likely than Fields winning then job outright.
Wilson endorsed a package for Fields, and it could be another way for the Steelers to get some value out of Fields, add an extra layer to their ground game and get creative. With Wilson’s pedigree and the fact that he still should be an upgrade at quarterback, it’s hard to see him not winning the job, but both he and Fields could wind up seeing the field, and it could be the best-case option for the Steelers.
