Steelers Are "Extremely Unlikely" To Pick Up Justin Fields Fifth-Year Option

The Pittsburgh Steelers have completely remodeled the quarterback room in the early stages of the 2024 offseason. 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett was shipped off to the Philadelphia Eagles after displaying poor behavior following the team's acquisition of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson. Mitchell Trubisky was handed his walking papers and quickly landed his old backup gig with the Buffalo Bills. Mason Rudolph tested the market to see what was out there , and found a new home with the Tennessee Titans. Steelers General Manager Omar Khan added former Chicago Bears quarterback for peanuts to solidify the room.  

Many wondered if the Steelers had a long-term plan when the organization put pen to paper with the 35-year-old Wilson late on Sunday. That was at least partially answered with the acquisition of Fields who, despite being almost eight months younger than Pickett, has 15 more starts in the NFL, and 17 more passing touchdowns. 

Due to Fields being a first-round pick in 2020, the organization will have to decide on his fifth-year option before the deadline in early May. That would put the Steelers on the hook for $25.6 million in 2025 according to Over The Cap. Fields is on the books for just over $3.2 million in 2024. 

Longtime Steelers beat writer Gerry Dualc of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in a post on X that he doesn't anticipate the franchise pulling the trigger on picking up the former Ohio State standout. 

Pittsburgh paid a sixth-round pick in 2025 that could become a fourth-round pick based on Fields' playing time. It seems, as Dulac wrote, "extremely unlikely" that the team would commit that kind of money to a quarterback who hasn't played a down for them and is likely to be the backup.  

Wilson has stated that he wants to be in Pittsburgh long-term. How the 2024 season plays out will be the deciding factor from the organization's perspective if Wilson will be the answer at quarterback for the next couple of years or if the team wants to pivot to trying Fields.

Steelers Could Take A Page Out Of Green Bay Packers Playbook For Fields Option Decision

The Green Bay Packers found themselves in a similar situation with a young inexperienced quarterback in the 2023 offseason that the Steelers are faced with in Fields in the 2024 offseason. The Packers took Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and sat him behind future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. Love didn't play a single snap in 2020. He played six games with one start in 2021, and four games, with no starts in 2022. Then the Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets in late April of 2023, right before they had to decide on Love's fifth-year option.

Instead of picking up the fifth-year option for Love, the Packers opted to sign a one-year extension with Love which came in at a cheaper price. While Fields has more experience than Love at the NFL level before Pittsburgh has to make a decision, they still haven't seen any of what he can do for them, which makes a contract negotiation difficult. 

These are not identical situations but very similar in that Green Bay had hesitations about a fifth-year option and found an alternative. Pittsburgh still has time to figure out what their solution to the Fields option will be but the Packers showed everyone that just because a team doesn't do the fifth-year option, doesn't mean a franchise will let the player hit the open market. 

Would you pick up Fields' fifth-year option? What kind of a contract would you try to do with him if not? Comment below!   

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