When the Pittsburgh Steelers swung a trade with the Chicago Bears featuring a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft for quarterback Justin Fields just a few days after signing veteran quarterback Russell Wilson in free agency, many viewed it as a sort of lottery ticket from the perspective of the Steelers.
Get a young, talented quarterback on the cheap. Bring him into the franchise, let him learn the system and see how he does, and then you potentially have a long-term franchise quarterback if things go well. The only challenge is — Fields is the backup to Wilson.
For Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, Fields has the potential to be even more than a lottery ticket for the Steelers. In his piece for Bleacher Report Monday making 10 bold predictions for the 2024 season ahead, Sobleski predicted that Fields will be the long-term franchise quarterback for the Steelers.
“Considering the setup with both Wilson and Fields playing on one-year deals after coming off disappointing situations, no significant edge should be awarded to either,” Sobleski writes regarding Fields and the QB situation in Pittsburgh. “Wilson is the more experienced veteran, with plenty of success in his background. But he also turns 36 during the regular season and Fields is a different type of athlete at the position, who can completely change the offense’s complexion.
“The Steelers will need to find out what they have at the game’s most important position before next offseason. Fields still presents significant upside, with the ability to become something more than a simple scratch-off lottery ticket.”
With Wilson and Fields entering the season on one-year deals after the Steelers declined the latter’s fifth-year option, both have a sense of urgency for different reasons. Wilson is trying to rejuvenate his career at the age of 36 and could be staring down the final opportunity in the NFL as a starter while Fields is trying to shake off a tough three-year stretch in Chicago, which led to the Bears moving on from him for No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams.
Though the contract situations are largely the same and neither should realistically have an advantage, Wilson has been in the pole position all offseason and enters training camp as the clear-cut starting quarterback for the Black and Gold.
That’s not an indictment on Fields though, even with some of the negative reports that have come out this offseason regarding his play. The Steelers view him as a potential franchise quarterback moving forward, and genuinely believe his skillset fits well with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
The general belief is that he needs a reset yet to wash away what happened in Chicago, fix mechanical and decision-making issues due to bad habits created in a bad situation, and rebuild from the ground up. With his talent and traits, the ceiling is incredibly high.
Getting him via trade for a conditional sixth-rounder was a great bit of business by GM Omar Khan and the Steelers. Essentially, it is a scratch-off lottery ticket, but one the Steelers knew they were buying into. It’s a low-risk, extremely high reward move.
At some point in 2024, the Steelers will have to find out what they have — or don’t have — in Fields. If he clicks, the Steeles could win the QB lottery in a period of transition. If he doesn’t, no harm, no foul.
