The Steelers faltered down the stretch with a five-game losing streak that may have cost QB Russell Wilson a future starting job in Pittsburgh. Both Wilson and QB Justin Fields, who started the first six games of the season for the Steelers, are set to be free agents in March, and Steelers owner Art Rooney II said the team will likely only bring back one of the two quarterbacks. Whether it’s Fields or Wilson whom the Steelers retain, DL Cameron Heyward said the team is “more than comfortable” with either under center.
“Having a clear-cut decision at quarterback’s gonna be huge for us,” Heyward said Tuesday on NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live. “Whether it’s Russ or Justin, I think we would be more than comfortable having either one of those guys. They showed it this year; they can play at a high level, and they’re only gonna grow in this offense.
“The one thing I love, when you get a guy from free agency, the more he gets comfortable in the city, in the scheme, offense, defense, doesn’t matter. But the more you’re around just the same place, you feel like you can expand what you did last year.”
While another year in the system should help, Wilson will turn 37 next season, and it’s not as if there’s much more development coming out of him. He looked like someone who could hold down Pittsburgh’s starting job early in his tenure as a starter. Still, he and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did not see eye to eye down the stretch, with Smith wanting to limit Wilson’s ability to change plays at the line, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
If the Steelers do bring Wilson back, that relationship would need to be worked on. Still, if the team gets the version of him that showed up in Weeks 7-14, the Steelers and Heyward have a reason to be comfortable. The problem is there’s no guarantee that Wilson can play to that level for a full season, given how he faded down the stretch and his reported rocky relationship with Smith. There’s more upside by going with Fields, but he’s obviously less proven as a quarterback.
He went 4-2 with 10 touchdowns and just one interception in six starts with the Steelers, but his accuracy wasn’t always on point. He offers the upside of using his legs much better than Wilson, but Pittsburgh favored Wilson over him last season. While he’s still young, he’s played a lot of snaps in his career, but he still offers some developmental upside, especially with last year being his first in Pittsburgh. There’s a better chance of him growing and evolving in Pittsburgh’s scheme than Wilson.
Whether they’ll re-sign one of them this offseason is one of the most important questions for the team’s future, but Heyward and the Steelers saw both of them up close last season and would be fine running it back with either one.
