Although Russell Wilson has been named the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback, some people don’t seem to believe he’ll hold on to that job. Justin Fields showed enough to impress coaches but not enough to win the starting job. However, former NFL defensive lineman Chris Long believes that Fields’ talent will end up forcing the Steelers to move on from Wilson.
“They have named Russell Wilson the starter,” Long said on his Green Light with Chris Long podcast. “I wouldn’t have done that, but I still think there’s a chance that they’re trying to move Russell at some point this year. That’s just me. I think Justin Fields is eventually the quarterback for this team.
“If he’s not, that probably means Russell Wilson’s playing well, so for you Steelers fans, you can hope that you don’t see Justin Fields, but I think you do eventually.”
There’s so much wrong with what Long is saying here. The biggest obstacle to the Steelers trading Wilson is that he has a no-trade clause in his contract. That means he can’t be traded unless he waives that clause for some reason. There are more complicated factors involved in trading Wilson beyond Fields taking the starting job.
Even if Wilson is amenable to a trade, why would a team trade for him? The only scenario where that happens is probably if a contending team loses its starting quarterback for the year. In that case, the Steelers could move Wilson, but that would also imply that Wilson looked bad enough to get benched. If that happens, is he going to be the first option for a contending team to replace its franchise quarterback?
The Steelers would also probably prefer to keep Wilson on as their backup in case Fields gets injured. With his tendency to take sacks and the offensive line being questionable, there’s no guarantee Fields would make it through the season completely healthy. The Steelers learned the value of having a decent backup quarterback last year.
Long can continue to say that the Steelers could trade Wilson if Fields becomes the starter, but it just isn’t realistic. Like everything in the NFL, there’s always a chance, but do not expect this to happen. The Steelers seem to be very happy with Wilson as their starting quarterback, and if Fields takes the starting job, they’d probably be even happier to have Wilson as their backup.
