While there are likely several reasons why QB Justin Fields left the Pittsburgh Steelers to sign with the New York Jets, a contract appears to be one of them. Agreeing to a two-year, $40 million deal that includes $30 million guaranteed, NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala says the Steelers’ offer did not offer guaranteed money past the first year.
“Talked to multiple personnel execs who expressed zero surprise at #Jets giving Justin Fields a year-$40M deal. He’s smart, a hard worker, and athletic enough to run,” Kinkhabwala tweeted Monday night. “#Steelers coaches very tangibly improved his footwork and taught him how to see the field better. I’m told Steelers’ offer didn’t guarantee any money after first year.”
While it doesn’t give us full details of Pittsburgh’s offer, it tells us a couple of things. One, they offered a multi-year deal to Fields. Two, they kept their current structure of only offering guaranteed money past Year One for top-of-the-market players or massive-money quarterbacks, like the deals Ben Roethlisberger got throughout his Steelers’ career.
Context will be needed and eventually provided regarding what kind of guarantees Fields got. The $30 million could be a catch-all number that includes things like an injury guarantee, only paid out in the unlikely scenario that Fields suffers a season-ending injury. Still, it stands to reason that some of Fields’ contract with the Jets features truly guaranteed money past 2025, making the deal more attractive than the one Pittsburgh appears to have offered.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Steelers offered Fields a contract roughly one week ago. He did not provide the team with an answer. His supposed silence spoke volumes, as he hit the market during the legal tampering period and agreed to terms with the Jets just hours into the start.
With Sam Darnold and Fields no longer options, Pittsburgh’s frontrunner is Aaron Rodgers. The New York Giants are reportedly also in the mix and could potentially offer the same contractual advantage. But given that Rodgers could be playing in the final year of his deal and is one of the wealthiest players in NFL history, Over the Cap puts his career earnings at more than $381 million, he’s likely less concerned with maximizing his contract than someone like Fields, a free agent for the first time in his career.
As Kinkhabwala also notes, league sources weren’t surprised by the strong deal Fields received. It came in far higher than expectations, even from former NFL agents like Joel Corry, who projected a maximum value of $15 million per season.
It’s the supply and demand of the quarterback market at play. A year ago, in a deep draft class with several free agent options (Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, and Gardner Minshew, among others), no team in the league viewed Fields as anything more than a backup. Six starts and an offseason pool that was weak in free agency and draft, and his value spiked. He got a better deal with New York than Pittsburgh. Time will tell if he can produce better results for the Jets, a team that has missed the playoffs for the last 14 seasons.
