Entering another pivotal offseason that will shape the franchise’s future, the Pittsburgh Steelers once again have major question marks at the quarterback position. Fortunately, the Steelers have some options, with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields being potential short-term answers.
Though both have expressed a desire to return, there seems to be quite a bit of buzz coming out of Pittsburgh regarding the position and the direction in which the Steelers are seemingly ready to head.
Following reports in recent days from FOX NFL Insider Jay Glazer and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that make it sound like the Steelers will move on from Wilson, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Saturday morning from New Orleans that the door is open for a potential deal with Justin Fields. He’s heard from former players who stated that some within the organization prefer Fields over Wilson, echoing a report Fowler had on Feb. 1.
“My sense coming out of New Orleans is that the door is open for a potential deal between the Steelers and free agent Justin Fields, but it would have to make sense for Fields, who, at this stage, will most likely want a more legitimate chance to start a full season,” Fowler writes regarding Fields and a potential deal with the Steelers, according to ESPN.com. “I’ve seen a bunch of ex-Steelers players here in New Orleans, many of whom are well-versed in Steelers happenings. They told me that some people in Pittsburgh’s building prefer Justin Fields over Russell Wilson — who is also a free agent — as the starter (which I had heard previously) due to age and mobility.
“Coach Mike Tomlin seems to have a loyalty to Wilson that could lead the team in that direction, though. Plus, Fields could have a sneaky good market and price himself out of Pittsburgh.”
Preferring the young, mobile quarterback who was 4-2 as a starter early in the year with the Steelers, one who showed the ability to play within the system, take care of the football, and, most importantly, perform well in the red zone, isn’t all that big of a surprise.
However, as Fowler noted, it will come down to what head coach Mike Tomlin prefers, as Tomlin was the one who went Lone Ranger in Week 7 ahead of the matchup with the New York Jets and decided to start Wilson over Fields. For quite a few weeks, that decision from Tomlin looked genius as Wilson looked like he had found the fountain of youth and had turned the clock back, capping it off by throwing for 414 yards in a Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road, pushing the Steelers into a top-10 scoring offense in the process.
But in the final four weeks of the regular season and the Wild Card Round, things came crashing down with Wilson and the Steelers’ offense as they failed to score more than 17 points in a game in the five-game losing streak. Earlier in the week, a report surfaced from the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac that the Steelers — particularly offensive coordinator Arthur Smith — handcuffed Wilson offensively, not allowing him to change plays at the line of scrimmage.
That’s not all that surprising, either, considering there was a report near the end of the season that Wilson and Smith had butted heads and disagreed on things offensively, though Wilson downplayed any rift during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show in mid-January.
Though Wilson is saying all the right things publicly entering an offseason where he finds himself a free agent once again, where there’s smoke, there’s fire when it comes to the Steelers and Wilson moving in different directions. He’s been connected to the Las Vegas Raiders because the Raiders hired former Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll, with whom Wilson won a Super Bowl and appeared in another. Fowler also connected Wilson with the Giants in his piece Saturday morning, creating at least some semblance of a market for the 36-year-old quarterback.
For now, though, based on what Fowler is hearing, which echoes what Russini stated earlier in the week, things are leaning towards Justin Fields in the Steel City. It’ll be up to him if he wants to run it back with the Black and Gold and serve as the bridge quarterback in 2025 and the foreseeable future at this stage of his career.
