If the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback competition between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields is already over—indeed, if it ever existed in the first place—then nobody told Broderick Jones. Or more likely, Broderick Jones isn’t saying what he knows.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Jones talked about the importance of blocking for both Wilson and Fields, given the uncertainties. “I believe”, he said, via the team’s website, that they do need to have comfort blocking for both. “It’s no secret that it’s still a battle and job going on. We have no say-so in that; all we’ve got to do is protect them. At the end of the day, that’s our job”.
The Steelers headhunted Russell Wilson this offseason after the Denver Broncos terminated his absurdly team-unfriendly contract. Because of the nature of the contract, the Broncos remained on the hook for his 2024 salary, minus what he could earn from another team. In light of that, no team, naturally, was about to pay him more than the minimum.
Wilson took a liking to the Steelers and signed here, but Justin Fields came sometime later, the final domino. After Wilson’s signing, Kenny Pickett asked for a trade, which prompted the Steelers to revisit Fields. The latter’s market sufficiently deflated, they pulled the trigger on trading Pickett, then acquired Fields.
Throughout the offseason, head coach Mike Tomlin maintained that Russell Wilson was in “pole position”. A calf injury did allow for some intrigue, as Justin Fields got to run the first-team offense for weeks to start training camp. He showed true growth and development during that time, but it didn’t really translate into preseason games.
All along the way, when reporters asked Tomlin about Wilson and Fields, Tomlin said that nothing had changed. There is no reason to think that anything has changed at this point, either, which indicates Wilson is the starter.
After all, Tomlin decided to pull Wilson after just one drive in the preseason finale, resulting in a touchdown. He only threw two passes, one a screen, the other a deep completion. If Tomlin viewed Wilson as in competition with Fields, he would have wanted to see more. And he didn’t need to see much more from Fields, either, who didn’t play much longer than Wilson.
But whether Broderick Jones is ignorant or shrewd, he maintains no special knowledge of the Steelers’ quarterback situation. Either way, he is being a good teammate by supporting both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as equal contenders.
I do think that both Wilson and Fields have the full support of the locker room. I would also hope that the players don’t regularly read all the crap that we put out there and focus solely on what the coaches tell them. Even if the coaches are feeding them nonsense, as they do from time to time. Like the idea that there isn’t and hasn’t been an answer to the quarterback question for some time.
But Broderick Jones is right in one very crucial respect: even if Russell Wilson begins the season as the Steelers’ starter, we can’t gauge how long his leash is. If he struggles, we could see Justin Fields sooner or later. Just because there is an initial starter, like there is an initial roster, doesn’t mean the competition is over.
