Payton Wilson and Justin Fields both played in the Steelers’ season opener last year. Wilson is more than ready to see Fields on the opposite side this year. Now the starting quarterback for the New York Jets, Wilson knows Fields is the enemy—if for just one afternoon.
“You try to take it game by game, but Week 1’s not too far away, so you’re just chomping at the bit to get to that. It’d be fun. I’ve actually built a great relationship with Justin”, Wilson said on The Insiders. “He was in some of our Bible studies, and the way that he approaches the game is amazing. I’m just excited to get out there and compete against him. Obviously, we want to go out there and absolutely destroy Justin, but at the end of the day, Justin’s a great guy, and I’m just super excited to play against him, and I can’t wait for that Week 1 matchup”.
Outside of football, Payton Wilson seems like the nicest guy in the world—and then he wants to destroy Justin Fields. Of course, he is far from alone in that attitude in the football world. It’s quite possibly the recipe for the best results, to have that “switch” to turn on and off.
The Steelers drafted Payton Wilson in the third round last year and acquired Justin Fields via trade. They brought in Fields to be a backup, but he started the first six games due to injury. Wilson technically only started four games, but he played nearly 500 defensive snaps.
This year, both Wilson and Fields will be full-time starters in the Steelers’ season opener. The bigger difference is they’ll be on the field at the same time—in different uniforms. After the 2024 season, Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets, including $30 million guaranteed. In the meantime, Pittsburgh was working on coaxing Aaron Rodgers to sign after two years with the Jets.
In his six starts with the Steelers, Justin Fields posted a 4-2 record, improving as he played more. He went 106-of-160 in those games for 1,106 yards, rushing for 231 yards. He accounted for 10 touchdowns, including five rushing, against one interception. But he was also charged with six fumbles, even if he only lost one of them.
Russell Wilson took over and played the rest of the season, but the Steelers intermittently injected Fields into the scheme to run a play or two. He only threw one pass subsequently, adding seven rushing attempts for 58 yards.
Reportedly, the Steelers did initially try to re-sign Justin Fields, but members of the organization had divided opinions about him. Needless to say, they were not going to match the guarantees the Jets were willing to give him, so now he is the enemy for a day. Not that Fields has given it much thought.
