If you ask 10 people in the media sphere who will be the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025, you might get 10 different answers. Steelers general manager Omar Khan has said the team would love to keep either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields. And Adam Schefter thinks the team is targeting Fields as their first priority. But, much like last off-season, could the 2025 starting quarterback not even be on the roster? Say, former New York Giants QB Daniel Jones?
Some people in the NFL media world have already made that connection. Mark Schlereth even thinks Jones could be a playoff-caliber quarterback under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
And The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt predicts that Jones will indeed be the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2025. He didn’t arrive at that conclusion easily, though.
“I’ll be honest, I had the hardest time predicting what Pittsburgh does,” wrote Rosenblatt. “There is a lot of noise about the Steelers preferring to keep either Fields or Wilson, but that was also the noise about Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett last year, which didn’t exactly come to fruition… Jones would be an interesting low-cost flier, as he could be a good fit in Arthur Smith’s run-heavy offense, and Pittsburgh would be the best environment he’s been in as a starter in terms of culture, coaching, and talent around him.”
Rosenblatt’s argument is much the same as Schlereth’s. Jones does possess some natural athleticism. He ran for 2,179 yards and 15 touchdowns in 70 career games. He’s even averaged 5.5 yards per carry. And Steelers fans can appreciate his toughness, especially on this run.
Tough physical touchdown run by Daniel Jones. pic.twitter.com/o2sE4dPW2s
— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) November 3, 2024
Jones has also won a playoff game at quarterback, a 31-24 win for the Giants over the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, he completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.
However, Jones is going to hit the free-agent market for a reason. The Giants thought Jones could be a franchise quarterback at one point. But they cut him after going 2-8 through the first 10 games last season. And with Jones as the starter, the Giants only had one winning season out of six.
It’s certainly possible that the Steelers will look at Daniel Jones in free agency. They need to look at every option to help solve a quarterback problem that has lingered since the final years of Ben Roethlisberger’s time in Pittsburgh. But does anyone have confidence that Jones is the answer? Probably not. Even Rosenblatt said he had a very hard time figuring it out.
Rosenblatt also predicts the Steelers will take a late-round flyer on a quarterback in the draft, Louisville QB Tyler Shough.
“Pairing Jones with a developmental Day 2 or Day 3 prospect would be a way of taking two shots at finding a starter — and Shough has some intriguing potential because of his size (6-5) and athleticism, though he has an injury history and will be 26 in the fall,” Rosenblatt wrote.
Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora scouted Shough, and while there are parts of his game to like, he doesn’t have high-end tools or a big arm to hang his game on. And as Rosenblatt noted, he will be 26 years old during his rookie season. He’s had a fascinating college career, which makes for a good story. But it’s hard to imagine him turning into a franchise quarterback.
As for Justin Fields and Russell Wilson’s fates, Rosenblatt predicts Fields will sign with the New York Jets. He did say that he could see him staying in Pittsburgh, especially if the Steelers commit to him as the starter for 2025. He also predicts that Wilson will reunite with his former Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll, in Las Vegas with the Raiders.
