The Pittsburgh Steelers winding up with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in their quarterback room this season was not the grand conclusion of a master plan. They only traded for Fields because Kenny Pickett requested a ticket out of town. Looking back, however, there’s no doubt they are glad they did it.
Even if it ends up a temporary arrangement, as many assume. Justin Fields played well overall in his six starts, but Russell Wilson is taking the offense to another level. Yet both are free agents next year, so how do you retain both? You don’t, Mark Kaboly said in a mailbag session on Thursday, via X.
“Not only isn’t realistic, but it’s also never going to happen”, Kaboly wrote about the possibility of the Steelers retaining both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. “If you are Fields, why would you want to do that when surely another team will be calling you up on the first day of free agency and throwing good money at you? I do fully expect that to happen”.
It’s a nice thought, but asking the Steelers to pay up for two quarterbacks is a lot. They also have some major monetary decisions on the horizon, like with George Pickens, and potentially Najee Harris. Would you rather retain Fields as your backup or Harris as your starting running back? Oh, and they need to give T.J. Watt a new deal, too, with a buttload of guaranteed money they’ll have to account for.
I agree that it is not realistic for the Steelers to expect to keep both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. The only possible scenario would be if Fields is so sure he sees his future with Pittsburgh that he wants to stay with an eye toward some long-term vision. The alternative of Fields staying is if Russell Wilson goes into the tank. In which case, there’s no need to re-sign him.
The bottom line is Justin Fields had too long a runway to showcase himself in a stable environment. His six starts with the Steelers surely convinced some teams that he merits an opportunity to compete. There may even be one or two teams willing to give him a starting job.
As far as Russell Wilson goes, we have still only seen him play three games. The Steelers have had good three-game runs from other quarterbacks in the past, and there are eight games to go. There’s no need to start writing up any contracts now, and the Steelers don’t do that, anyway.
For all we know, we have already seen the best of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields with the Steelers, too. Nobody is guaranteeing a Super Bowl trophy in the near future with either of them. All we’re getting right now is mostly solid, but particularly timely play with no proof of sustainability.
Then again, from that perspective, perhaps by the end of the season Wilson and Fields will have tanked their value. That’s the only reason the Steelers were able to afford to pick up both of them in the first place. That and the fact that Fields was still on a rookie contract.
