The Pittsburgh Steelers are in an eerily similar spot to this time last season. They exited the playoffs in the Wild Card Round and are unstable at the quarterback position. QB Russell Wilson stepped in as the starter in Week 7 and looked good early. But he was at the helm of an offense that failed to score more than 17 points in a single game during the season-ending five-game losing streak.
Now, last year, they had one quarterback under contract heading into 2024, Kenny Pickett. This year, the only quarterback under contract for 2024 is Skylar Thompson, whom the Steelers just signed to a one-year contract on Tuesday. Wilson and Justin Fields’ contracts are up at the end of this league year. But will Wilson or Fields be back in Pittsburgh in 2025?
Albert Breer was specifically asked about Wilson during Tuesday’s episode of What The Football with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask. And he seems to think Wilson could be on the outs in Pittsburgh.
“I’d be surprised,” said Breer about Wilson returning. “I think where they are right now, there’s a lot of frustration with the way Russ played towards the end of the year. And there’s some stuff there where I just don’t feel like Russell Wilson will be back there next year. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think he’ll return there next year.”
Wilson did throw two touchdown passes during the Steelers’ 28-14 playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens. But during that five-game losing streak to end the 2024 season, he had five turnovers versus six passing touchdowns (he also had a rushing touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs). During the most important part of the season, Wilson did not deliver.
And you could certainly argue that Wilson was brought in specifically for moments like that. He’s a Super Bowl-winning veteran quarterback. He’s supposed to know how to play in those situations. And in one of the biggest spots of the year, Wilson fell flat on his face.
At the end of the Steelers’ Week 18 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Wilson ran the two-minute drill about as badly as you could without turning the ball over. For a full breakdown, check Alex Kozora’s review of the two-minute drill. But suffice it to say, Wilson made head-scratching decisions in a pressure situation. And those mistakes cost the Steelers a chance of winning that game. And if they had won, they would have gone to Houston to play the Texans. Instead, they went to Baltimore.
So, there are certainly reasons for people to be frustrated with Russell Wilson’s performance at the end of the season. He’s also 36 years old. He’s not the Steelers’ long-term future at quarterback.
But what about Justin Fields? Could the Steelers opt to keep him around after he started the season 4-2?
“I think they want to keep working with Justin Fields,” Breer said. “I just don’t know if they’re going to say yes, Justin, you can be the starter next year. So if he has an opportunity to start somewhere else, obviously, he’ll probably take that.”
It’s not like Fields lit the world on fire during the first six games of the season. He only threw for five touchdowns versus one interception. He did find the endzone five more times on the ground, though. Also, he finished 2024 with a career-high 65.8 completion percentage and a career-low interception percentage (0.6).
And, perhaps most crucially, head coach Mike Tomlin spoke well of Fields at his end-of-season press conference. Whether that means anything in terms of contract talks, training camp, and next season remains to be seen.
But Albert Breer seems to think that the odds are much higher that Justin Fields will be back in Pittsburgh in 2025, not Russell Wilson.
