Though it’s been penciled in for weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially won’t give up additional trade compensation as part of their deal with the Chicago Bears for QB Justin Fields. As part of the agreement back in March, Pittsburgh would’ve sent a 2025 fourth-round pick had Fields logged 51 percent of the offense’s snaps over the regular season. Instead, it will remain as sixth-round compensation.
Checking with Over The Cap’s Nick Korte, there’s no known examples of postseason snaps impacting snap count conditions and there’s been no reporting of it being any different in the Fields trade.
Fields entered Week 18 logging 38.2 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps. Though he was active for the finale after missing the prior two games with an abdominal injury, the math made it essentially impossible for him to rocket to 51 percent against the Cincinnati Bengals. Doing so would’ve required him playing roughly 280 offensive snaps while Russell Wilson registered zero. That, you’ll be surprised to learn, did not occur.
It was Fields with the goose-egg snap count Saturday night, healthy but not logging a snap in the Steelers’ 19-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. A decision Mike Tomlin seemed content with.
Though always a high and unlikely bar, Fields started the first six games of the season while Wilson rehabbed from recurring calf injuries. But Mike Tomlin made the controversial decision to swap out Fields for Wilson despite the Steelers’ 4-2 record. Some speculated the draft pick condition played a factor, but it wasn’t part of Tomlin’s calculation. He hoped Wilson would elevate the offense to a new level and it did, though the offense struggled while playing the NFL’s very best from Weeks 15-17 and continued to sputter against the Bengals in yesterday’s finale.
After Wilson became the starter, Fields was sprinkled into action as a situational rusher in short-yardage moments. It came with some success though he was injured on a designed run sliding down against the Philadelphia Eagles, missing the past two games.
For the season, Fields threw for 1,106 yards and five scores while rushing for 289 yards and five more touchdowns.
A pending free agent, Fields has expressed a desire to return to Pittsburgh. The Steelers don’t have any of their three quarterbacks under contract for 2025 with Wilson and third-stringer Kyle Allen also on expiring contracts. It’ll be the first question the Steelers must answer this offseason. Should they retain Wilson, Fields will look for a starting job elsewhere. Given his successful season and lack of quarterback options in free agency and the draft, he could have more suitors than an offseason ago.
