The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to roll with Russell Wilson as their quarterback beyond the 2024 season, and with Wilson and Justin Fields both set to be free agents after this season, NFL insider Jason La Canfora could see the Steelers bringing back both quarterbacks. On The Tony Kornheiser Show, La Canfora discussed Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation and said that Pittsburgh likely isn’t going outside the organization for its next quarterback and that both Fields and Wilson might be back in the Black and Gold in 2025.
“The question is who are you getting and where is he coming from? They’re not gonna draft one that’s ready to play, they’d have to mortgage multiple drafts to move up, to get anywhere close to that. Could they bring [Justin] Fields and Russell Wilson back? I don’t think it’s out of the question,” La Canfora said.
It would be a surprise if Pittsburgh was able to bring both back with each expected to command starting quarterback contracts. A Baker Mayfield-type contract (three years, $100 million) has been floated for Wilson, and after Fields went 4-2 to open the season as Pittsburgh’s starter, he could garner interest as a starter elsewhere. La Canfora said that if Sam Darnold gets the franchise tag, Wilson and Fields could hit the market as the top two free-agent quarterbacks.
The Steelers likely aren’t going to want to pay Fields as much as some other teams if he’s just going to be a backup and used occasionally in package plays. That is why it would be a bit of a shock if he came back if the team has its sights set on retaining Wilson. While Wilson started off strong for the Steelers, they’re in the midst of a three-game losing streak and Wilson has three turnovers over the last two games and took five sacks in the team’s Week 17 loss to the Chiefs. Obviously, that fault doesn’t lie entirely with him, but he hasn’t played as well as he was just a few weeks ago.
That likely won’t impact Pittsburgh’s future plans too much as it seems as if the team does want to bring him back and has seen enough to be comfortable doing so. Committing to Fields behind him would be an interesting decision and it would allow the Steelers to have a quick trigger if Wilson struggles next season. But it would be a lot of money for essentially a backup quarterback and the Steelers will have other areas to address to become a legitimate contender.
A lot can change between now and the offseason, but while it may be a possibility, it would go down as a big surprise in my eyes if the Steelers re-signed both Fields and Wilson this offseason.
