Free agency opened up, and through the frenzy, the Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have a starting quarterback. It might seem like they’ve mishandled this situation. At the moment, they’re stuck waiting to hear from Aaron Rodgers, who is not the same player he once was. Their other options at quarterback don’t look very appealing, either. Before free agency began, it seemed like the Steelers would re-sign Justin Fields, but that didn’t happen. Insider Albert Breer believes that’s a result of the Steelers’ pursuit of Rodgers.
“Aaron Rodgers is out there; they made a decision that they were going to make a run at Aaron Rodgers,” Breer said Tuesday on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube channel. “I fully support their decision to do that. I think it makes all kinds of sense for them to be in on Aaron Rodgers, but there’s collateral damage for that. The collateral damage to that, in this case, is Justin Fields.”
After the season ended, the Steelers made it clear that they wanted to re-sign Fields or Russell Wilson. Now, with Wilson still available, it seems like they were more focused on retaining Fields. However, Breer makes it sound like they planned on attempting to sign Rodgers.
That might be part of the reason why the Steelers couldn’t agree to a deal with Fields before free agency opened. If he knew the Steelers were going to try to sign Rodgers, he might not have wanted to be in that situation. It likely would’ve felt too similar to last season. Instead, Fields signed with the New York Jets, where he’s in sole possession of their starting job.
During that same video, Breer explained just that, expanding on what he believes happened with the Steelers and Fields.
“It’s not even that they couldn’t have had Fields and Rodgers on the team at the same time. I think they could’ve actually done that. It’s that, if you have that possibility out there, that those two guys were gonna be on the team at the same time, you are then necessarily saying to Justin Fields, ‘We’re not set on making you the starter.'”
Other factors likely influenced Fields’ decision. The Steelers reportedly offered less guaranteed money than the Jets. He also probably wanted to test his market no matter what. The Steelers taking a swing at Rodgers might’ve just been the cherry on top.
Still, it might be a little frustrating for fans to hear that the Steelers missed out on Fields partly because of Rodgers. Fields probably wasn’t going to be their long-term solution under center. However, he likely would’ve been a better option than the other free-agent quarterbacks the Steelers have to choose from.
Rodgers might be better than Fields, but there’s no guarantee the Steelers will land him. In that scenario, their quarterback room could look ugly. The Steelers could come to regret not getting a deal done with Fields.
