The Pittsburgh Steelers have a looming quarterback decision, and with the new league year starting next week, we’ll find out sooner rather than later whether they re-sign Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, both of them, or neither of them. Right now, it seems as if the Steelers are leaning toward Fields, but DL Cameron Heyward wants to make sure it’s one of Fields or Wilson. On his Not Just Football podcast, Heyward had reality TV personality Tyler Francis on the show, and Francis said he saw that the Steelers were looking to get rid of Fields and Wilson.
“Hope not,” Heyward said in reply to Francis. “I don’t like the other choices.”
It’s hard to fault Heyward for not being thrilled with what else is out there on the quarterback market. Every available quarterback has question marks, with names like Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones other free agent quarterback options. Pittsburgh also likely isn’t finding its 2025 starter through the draft this year, so it would have to come via free agency.
While Darnold is the best name on that list after leading the Vikings to a 14-3 season in 2024, he struggled to end the year and hasn’t been good in his prior stints as a starter with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. Rodgers is 41 and struggled with the New York Jets last season and comes with off-the-field baggage in the sense that he’s a big personality who makes weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show and is outspoken in some of his political beliefs. Meanwhile, Jones struggled for most of his tenure with the New York Giants before being waived during the 2024 season.
Re-signing Fields or Wilson is the Steelers’ stated goal, and it’s something that they might look to accomplish before the new league year begins. Both players are going to have interest from teams outside of Pittsburgh, and signing one of them before free agency kicks off would prevent a potential bidding war. Of course, both team and player need to have interest in getting something done before free agency, and both Fields and Wilson may want to gauge their value on the open market before agreeing to a new deal.
Even though 2024 didn’t go as planned for the Steelers — it was yet another year without a playoff win for the Steelers and Heyward, who’s Hall of Fame resume is really only lacking sustained playoff success — Cameron Heyward wants the Steelers to run it back with one of their 2024 quarterbacks. It’s a reasonable take given how poor the quarterback market is this offseason and the familiarity both Wilson and Fields have within the system, and it seems he’s on the same page as the organization. Now we’ll just see if the Steelers can get a deal done.
