The Pittsburgh Steelers fan base has been able to gain some clarity on the quarterback situation over the last week or so. The position is the most important in football, and the Steelers have not had great play at that spot in years. Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are each scheduled to be free agents once March rolls around, but Team President Art Rooney II made it clear the Steelers will look to sign one of the players. At first, it was unclear which quarterback that would be, but it has become evident that the organization seems to be tilting in Fields' direction.
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Steelers' Russell Wilson and Justin Fields warm up before a game during the 2024 season.
There are pros and cons when it comes to signing either quarterback to a new, multi-year deal. Wilson is on the tail-end of his career and comes with a higher price tag than Fields, while Fields is younger and has a higher ceiling. Wilson already showed what he can do when he started the majority of the season in 2024, and much of the fan base grew tired of him by the time the year ended. Thankfully, it seems like the organization is leaning towards bringing back Fields, which was reported by NFL insider Dianna Russini during an appearance The Herd. Colin Cowherd brought up the reports from Jay Glazer about Wilson not coming back to Pittsburgh, and Russini agreed.
"I'm hearing the same thing," Russini said. "Those conversations started to happen at the end of their season. They decided, 'Alright, we're most likely going to stick with Justin Fields here moving forward.' For Russell Wilson, I don't think it was the perfect fit. I think it was a great move by Mike Tomlin and the Steelers organization to take a chance on him, and then we saw so much success out of it. There were blips of it, but I think in the end with who they want to be and the identity, all the reasons that we thought it was strange, almost came to light now."
For a while after the season ended, it seemed like each quarterback had an equal chance of returning for the 2025 season. If anything, Wilson seemed to be the front runner to be the starting quarterback for the Steelers again. Since then, it has become clear things weren't all great with Wilson at the helm. He reportedly had a rocky relationship with Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith, and he has even been accused of planting fake information to make him look better in the media.
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Steelers' Russell Wilson and Justin Fields warming up before a game during the 2024 season.
Wilson ended the year on a rough note as he lost five consecutive games as a starter and finished the year with a 6-6 record. Fields started the first six games of the season for Pittsburgh while Wilson was injured, and he led the team to a 4-2 record. The young quarterback had the chance to go 6-0 during those games if it weren't for a handful of unfortunate sequences.
Fields seemed to improve as a passer once he got to the Steelers. He looked more comfortable dropping back to pass than he ever did while he was with the Chicago Bears, and he has certainly earned a chance to be the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh.
Steelers Causing Some Concern With Justin Fields
If the Steelers have known that they want to move forward with Fields at quarterback, he should be signed already. According to Spotrac, his market value is roughly $6.4 million per season, and it seems like a no-brainer to offer Fields a one or two-year deal based off of that number. The deal should already be done.
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If Fields makes it to free agency, he may allow Pittsburgh to match any other offers he receives, but the price would certainly be higher. A clear-cut plan moving forward should be to have Fields be the starter in 2025, and draft a quarterback to back him up.
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