The Pittsburgh Steelers have to strike a balance at training camp when it comes to evaluating their two new quarterbacks. Russell Wilson didn’t miss any practices during the spring, which gave Justin Fields very few chances to work with the starters on offense. Given that the Steelers have no quarterbacks under contract beyond the 2024 season, they need to set up opportunities to see Fields with the starters to evaluate his long-term potential before free agency next March.
That is a far cry from the quarterback competition narrative that we have spent the offseason debating. But with so many new variables in place—particularly on offense—the Steelers would be best served to get as many snaps as possible for their intended starter throughout training camp.
“I think they want to find out as much about Justin [Fields] as they can from July 24th until opening day. And we really didn’t see this in OTAs. Russell really wanted to be out there every day. He didn’t miss any practices,” said Post-Gazette Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo on 93.7 The Fan this morning. “A lot of times, what you’ll see with the Steelers, and they did this with Ben [Roethlisberger]…they’ll purposely rest guys every third or fourth day just to give them a rest. And on those days, those are gonna be huge opportunities for Justin Fields to go out there with the ones to show what he can do.
“You’re not gonna see Justin Fields maybe with the ones a whole lot in the preseason games unless there’s an injury, but I think we’ll see that maybe five, six times during training camp. And I think on those days when he does get to go with the ones, he’s gonna have to prove himself and show the coaching staff and the front office that he might be a part of this team’s future.”
Outside of an injury to Wilson, or any potential specialized packages the Steelers implement for Fields, that doesn’t give a ton of time to evaluate what they have in him. Game situations are always the best litmus test for players, but Wilson will presumably receive most of the time in the preseason with the starters. Fields will receive plenty of work as well, but maybe just with the backups in the middle portions of the preseason games.
Fields told the media during one of the first days of OTAs that he didn’t come to the Steelers to sit on the bench all season. He wants to compete. It would appear Fittipaldo doesn’t see much of an opportunity for that to take place.
The idea of a bridge contract for Fields has been kicked around all offseason. It would extend the amount of time that the Steelers have to evaluate Fields for the future of the franchise and keep him under contract for an additional season or two. Fittipaldo says he doesn’t see a bridge deal happening before the season, but he could see an extension being worked out sometime after the season before the start of free agency in March.
With potentially very little time to evaluate him in a game setting, that means seeing how Fields commands the huddle at practice and how he interacts with his teammates in the meeting room. His leadership and preparation could end up being his best chance to earn a second contract with the team.
I get both sides of the argument, but the Steelers really need to figure out what they have in Fields. I’m not sure the scenario that Fittipaldo laid out is going to be sufficient to make an informed decision.
Fortunately, we only have a couple weeks until players report to training camp where we will see the true nature of the quarterback competition.
