The Pittsburgh Steelers completely revamped their quarterback room ahead of the 2024 season. Out with the old and in with the new seemed to be the motto. Kenny Pickett was jettisoned, while Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were brought in.
Fields started the first six games, and once Wilson recovered from his calf injury, he took over for the remainder of the season. Each quarterback had their own good and bad moments, but neither seemed destined to lead the Steelers on a Super Bowl run. Now, Pittsburgh finds themselves in a familiar spot. They head into the offseason still without a long-term answer at the most important position in the game. Earlier this week, Steelers owner Art Rooney II claimed he’d like to see one of the two in the black and gold again in 2025.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio prefers Fields over Wilson. He shared his thoughts with 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday.
“I would like to think that it’s Justin Fields at this point,” Florio said. “I think Russell Wilson’s best days are behind him. Justin Fields’ best days could still be in front of him. If one or the other is gonna be back, I don’t know why it would be Wilson. I don’t know why it wouldn’t be Fields.”
The age, as Florio alludes to, certainly is a factor. Wilson, 36, is more than a decade older than Fields. Florio certainly isn’t wrong to claim Wilson’s best days are behind him. We all saw how much Wilson struggled with mobility in the pocket toward the end of the season, behind a line that struggled to stay healthy in 2024. Fields’ mobility was always an argument his supporters could hold over Wilson, and it rang true toward the end of the year.
Rooney also thinks it’s unlikely that both Fields and Wilson are brought back. Thus, Florio proposed an idea that Pittsburgh may be trying to pit the two against each other.
“If you can create both of them to believe it’s one or the other, it puts you in a position where you can play one against the other to get the best possible deal,” Florio said. “I just think it’s interesting to have two quarterbacks and create the impression that you want one or the other. I think it’s a negotiation ploy.”
It certainly could be, and that wouldn’t be unusual in the NFL. Salaries are a big deal, especially at the quarterback position. With neither of these two quarterbacks looking likely to win a championship anytime soon, the Steelers will want to do everything they can to lower the cost of whichever player they bring back, if that’s the route they take.
