All reports indicated that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preferred quarterback option was Justin Fields, yet he decided to test the free agent market and quickly agreed to sign with the New York Jets on a lucrative two-year deal. What led to his decision to jump ship and test the market in the first place? Shannon Sharpe thinks the Steelers’ conservative offense might have something to do with it.
“I’m happy for Justin Fields. He’s like, ‘Bro, I ain’t going back to Pittsburgh, y’all ain’t gonna turn me loose,'” Sharpe said last night via his Nightcap podcast. “Y’all wanna do stuff like that — play to the defense, don’t take any risks. Last time they took risks is when they had Big Ben.”
Fields only started six games for the Steelers last year, but they clearly held him back at times throughout his time as QB1. They outright said it in Week 1 when they played the Atlanta Falcons. They were purposefully avoiding the middle of the field to mitigate the influence that S Jessie Bates III had on the game.
The most passing attempts Fields had in a game last season was 34 but was under 30 in four of his six starts and under 25 in three of them. In total, he completed 106 of his 160 attempts for 1,106 yards, five passing TDs, five rushing TDs, and an interception. That is just 184.3 passing yards per game. That is even less than he had with the Chicago Bears in 2023 on a per-game basis.
“At the end of the day, you gotta let me throw a football, bro,” Sharpe said of Fields’ likely thoughts. “This is 2025. This ain’t 1940 football where we run the Wing-T. Quarterbacks wanna throw, receivers wanna catch, running backs wanna run, edge rushers wanna rush the quarterback. So you gotta let ’em do what they were meant to do. What the hell you expect a man to do? Go 12 of 15 for 220 yards, three touchdowns? Come on man.”
After losing his starting job, Fields watched Russell Wilson stumble over the final five games of the season. If reports are to be believed, OC Arthur Smith stripped Wilson of his freedom to check out of plays at the line of scrimmage. If you’re Fields and watching that happen to a 36-year-old veteran, what does that mean for your future freedom within the offense?
In the Steelers’ defense, Fields entered his starting tenure in Pittsburgh with a 10-28 record as the starter. The Steelers’ approach gave him the first winning record of his career, including a three-game win streak to start the season. You could argue that conservative approach is one of the very reasons why he was able to get a two-year, $40 million deal.
Now the Steelers are left with Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers as their two best options. Both are nearing the ends of their careers, which means the Steelers currently have no long-term plan at the position. With Fields and his youth, they at least had a shot at that. When will the Steelers take the training wheels off their offense? Trading for DK Metcalf and having the weapons necessary to do so could be the first big step.
