If Russell Wilson returns as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting 2025 quarterback, some members of the coaching staff won’t be happy. That’s how NFL insider Adam Caplan sees the team’s situation, believing Wilson is doubtful to return after a rocky first season with the team. So much that some coaches wanted him benched before 2024 ended.
“I’ve been on record and we’ll see what happens,” Caplan told Scott Ferrall on Ferrall Coast to Coast Thursday. “It’s not impossible. I know there’s some people in the Steelers who would like to see him back. I think there’s some coaches who were hoping to bench him last season but overruled, as I understand it.”
Caplan’s thoughts on Wilson’s unlikely return aren’t new. But his commentary about his debated benching is interesting commentary and news we haven’t heard in such clear terms before. He doesn’t refer which coaches wanted him benched, perhaps OC Arthur Smith who has always seemed fond of QB Justin Fields, but it’s easy to know who would be doing the overruling. Mike Tomlin has final say on who starts and who doesn’t, admitting he went “lone ranger” to start Wilson mid-season after recovering from a summer calf injury.
Caplan doesn’t outline the exact timeline of when coaches felt it was time to change. Presumably, it came into the Steelers’ five-game losing streak, the team’s first such one since 1998. Pittsburgh’s offense went back into a shell, averaging a paltry 14.2 points per game.
Justin Fields’ late-season injury complicated any consideration to a quarterback change. He suffered an abdominal injury on his lone carry in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles and missed the next two contests, which came on short weeks, because of it. He returned for the regular season finale but did not play, and logged just two offensive snaps in the Wild Card loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Still, Caplan believes the organization remains optimistic about Fields’ chances moving forward.
“They’re very intrigued with Justin Fields, who never really got a shot,” he said.
Fields started the first six games and led Pittsburgh to a 4-2 record. His play improved from his time in Chicago, but the Steelers’ offense struggled to put up points while Fields struggled in a Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
During Wilson’s first start, the NBC broadcast revealed Tomlin remarked that if he switched back to Fields, he wasn’t changing again. Ultimately, he stuck with Wilson the whole way through due to his resume and time in the league.
“They wanted to go with Russell Wilson’s experience, but they should have given Fields a shot at that point.”
The Steelers have another decision to make: re-sign Fields or Wilson? So far, the team has turned to and stuck with Wilson at every opportunity. Caplan doesn’t think that’ll happen again, but as even he and others have noted, Tomlin’s loyalty to Wilson can’t completely rule him out.
