The blockbuster trade of the year sends former 2021 11th overall pick Justin Fields packing, but what does it mean for the Steelers’ QB room?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have made splashes this free agency period, signing two low-cost options at quarterback. The team got rid of their former 2022 draft-pick in Kenny Pickett, instead opting to start from scratch with Russell Wilson after the Denver Broncos released him and freshly-traded 2021 11th overall pick Justin Fields.
We say low-cost because the team gave up relatively nothing to sign two of the biggest names that were rumored to be available when the new league season started. The Steelers signed Wilson to the veteran minimum, $1.5 million. The team then subsequently traded for Justin Fields whose trade market seemed to be faltering while only giving up a sixth-round pick, one that can turn into a fourth-rounder based on playing time.
On paper, the Steelers have one of the best quarterback rooms in the NFL this season on a per-player average basis. Looking at the talent level of the two, Pittsburgh has managed to assemble a squad with a former Super Bowl-winning, nine-time Pro Bowler, and 2019 second-team All-Pro alongside a former Heisman Trophy winner and 2021 first-rounder. At a glance, the Steelers seem to be set at quarterback, however– the position of QB is one of the hardest to dissect, a reason being that only one can play at a time.
The two quarterbacks– Wilson and Fields are similar, but share more differences than not. One’s a budding signal-caller with quite a bit of potential left to him while the other is simply trying to revive a broken career that fell apart in Denver. A coaching change in the Mile High City helped Wilson, with Payton making inroads on the 35-year-old’s resurgence, yet wasn’t enough to bring him back to vintage form. It seems like those days are over now, with Wilson being asked to take on a much different role.
While Fields is a mobile quarterback, able to make plays like Wilson’s former days on the run and extending the play– Fields hasn’t seen the success that Wilson has. Blame Chicago’s system and dysfunctional organization, blame Fields’ supposed inability to read a defense, blame a plethora of different things, it all comes to the same conclusion. We haven’t seen the best of Fields yet. What it does do however, is pit these two talents that are worlds-apart on an even playing field.
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That puts the quarterback room in Pittsburgh in a perilous position, much more perilous than when Kenny Pickett was still in town. Two quarterbacks ready to take each other’s spot at any given moment. Considering the fact that Pittsburgh barely invested any capital into the two, that makes it easy for the team to cut ties with either. The way we see it, this could go either of two ways. Wilson– the announced starter could do exactly what he’s told, hand the ball off and rely on a good defense with a slightly better semblance of offense than last year to see if that does the trick.
The old school Iowa Hawkeye way of playing football.
Or, he could try to be the Russell Wilson he was in 2022 with the Broncos, being dangerous and reckless with the football without a lot of weapons on offense. In fact, all the Steelers have left in terms of offensive firepower seems to be George Pickens, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. The team traded away receiver Diontae Johnson last weekend, leaving some serious question marks in the Steel City.
In scenario B, Wilson can’t do it all himself like he used to do in Seattle. Instead, that’s when Fields will step in. Presumably acquired as a cheap insurance policy against Wilson, Fields has shown abilities to be a superstar at times. Except the times are too inconsistent and far between. Fields and Wilson are the only quarterbacks to have 100 or more interceptions and sacks in the past two seasons. Somehow both of them ended up on the same team. The two are constantly ravaging each other, with the presumption of being cut.
Yet, there seems to be a quiet third option, a “C” if you will. Perhaps the Steelers are utilizing the two the same way Green Bay did with their quarterbacks– in a mentor and mentee type of way. By artificially creating the same scenario, maybe the Steelers are trying to pit Wilson as the mentor to Fields who’ll take over after Wilson leaves.
The issue with that is, the question of how much is Wilson willing to take on that role. After all, Wilson signed with the Steelers with the idea that he would completely take the reins once he got there, then Fields came into the mix.
The Steelers did not trust Pickett to throw the ball, and who would? Pickett’s inconsistency and abysmal statistics are a conversation for another time but the Steelers aren’t hoping for an offensive revival. It was clear that’s what the Matt Canada firing was mid-2023. Instead, they want their new quarterbacks to help foster some more trust in the passing game. Whether or not the quarterbacks will be focused on that or trying to save their own career with a like-skill set peering over their shoulder at all time is yet to be seen.
Imagine the Steelers with their finger on the trigger of a Patriots Mac Jones/Bailey Zappe situation– that’s the extent this could turn into.
