Nobody on the current roster of the Pittsburgh Steelers has experienced the continuity that the organization is known for like Cameron Heyward. Drafted in 2011, Heyward is in his 14th season. Up until a few years ago, he only ever had Ben Roethlisberger as the starting quarterback entering a season.
Heyward witnessed the first attempt at replacing Roethlisberger with Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett in 2022. After two seasons with that group, it became apparent that the Steelers would not be able to compete in the playoffs. But the organization is known for continuity, so a lot of people thought they would keep letting Pickett develop.
Heyward is as surprised as anybody that they did a full reset on the quarterback group, and now have both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson.
“It doesn’t really happen like that,” Heyward said in a video posted by Steelers Live on X. “If someone told me we would’ve had Russ [Wilson] in here, you name it. These guys, we played against them, and they’ve had some success versus us. But having the quarterback room we have now, I wouldn’t have thought in a million years we would’ve had that.”
Mike Tomlin was asked about the 2021 draft in which Fields was taken No. 11 overall after Fields was traded to the Steelers. He watched Fields at his Pro Day, but said he was just a window shopper at the time because they were picking too deep into the draft to land a talent like Fields. Just a few years later, they were able to acquire him for just a conditional sixth-round pick in 2025.
It is a little extra fun for Heyward, who played at Ohio State and would have been cheering for Fields during his two years with the program.
Heyward also played a part in recruiting Wilson, having some long phone conversations with him while he was courting the team in free agency. They managed to sign him for just $1.21 million because of his guarantees offsetting with the Denver Broncos.
Just like that, the Steelers pulled off a heist, getting two high-pedigree quarterbacks in the same room. So far, it has worked out pretty well with Wilson’s calf injury making a high-caliber backup neccessary.
It gives players like Heyward, T.J. Watt, and some of the other veterans on the team an opportunity to get over the hump in the playoffs and win some postseason games.
