The ongoing saga over which quarterback the Pittsburgh Steelers will re-sign, Justin Fields or Russell Wilson, could finally be coming to its conclusion. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said he believes the Steelers are “determined” to have an answer by week’s end, ahead of the legal tampering period and start of free agency.
“It’s tough to go into free agency to go add to your offense when you have no idea who’s playing quarterback,” Schefter said Tuesday while appearing on The Pat McAfee Show. “And that’s why I think they’re gonna spend this week working on getting a deal done with either Justin Fields or Russell Wilson. I would imagine Justin Fields is first up in the pecking order. We’ll see if they can get something worked out there. If not, it’s easy to pivot onto Russell Wilson and we’ll see how this works out.”
During last week’s NFL Combine, general manager Omar Khan acknowledged a desire to re-sign one of the team’s quarterbacks before free agency. That will give the team cap clarity, prevent other franchises from verbally agreeing to deals with Fields and Wilson, and as Schefter noted, help convince free agent veteran receivers the Steelers are expected to court to sign with Pittsburgh. Davante Adams is the most recent example, released by the Jets today.
National reporting has given the leg up on Fields over Wilson though the language has been careful and hardly convincing. Largely, the fan base prefers Fields to return, even earning Ben Roethlisberger’s endorsement.
Fields is expected to have a market and if he wants to explore other options, there’s nothing preventing him from doing so. Today is the deadline to use the franchise tag and Pittsburgh won’t use it on any pending free agent, quarterback or not.
“But I would think Pittsburgh is determined to try to get one of these quarterback deals done in the coming days so that it has some clarity going into free agency,” Schefter said.
That means a deal could happen at any moment, though later in the week is more likely given the business world’s “deadlines spur action” mantra. If Schefter’s instincts are correct, Fields will get the first chance to sign. If not, the team will turn to Wilson, who has repeatedly stated a desire to return to Pittsburgh. The speculation has lasted for months. Time to get some answers.
