Steelers seem likely to stick with Justin Fields and let Russell Wilson go in another direction

The Pittsburgh Steelers had an unsettled quarterback situation in the 2024 season. They brought in both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to play the position, hoping that two former NFL starters could find a way to give the team excellent production at the QB slot. It worked — at least partially — as the Steelers had a winning record (10-7) and made the playoffs.

Fields was the Steelers starter for the first seven games of the season while Wilson became the team’s primary starter after that. The former Chicago Bear quarterback led the Steelers to a 5-2 start before head coach Mike Tomlin made a change at the position. Fields displayed plenty of athleticism while he was under center and he was competent enough to get the Steelers into the winner’s circle on a regular basis.

The offense lacked big-play consistency under Fields and that drove Tomlin to go with Wilson. The Steelers hit a few more big plays with Wilson under center, but Pittsburgh was unimpressive down the stretch and that did not impress the team’s decision makers.

While nothing official has been announced yet, it appears the Steelers are going to keep Fields on the roster and part company with Wilson, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.

Fields is younger and more athletic than Wilson

The Steelers appeared to come to the conclusion that Fields, 25, was the better long-term fit than Wilson at some point during the second half of the season. The Steelers closed the regular season with four consecutive defeats and they were beaten in the Wild Card round by the Baltimore Ravens. The final score of 28-14 doesn’t tell the full story as the Steelers were never really competitive in the game.

The end-of-season slump gave Tomlin the message that Wilson, 36, was not the answer. “Those conversations they started to happen at the end of their season,” Russini said during a segment on the Colin Cowherd show. “They decided ‘we’re going to probably most likely stick with Justin Fields here moving forward.’ Just knowing that for Russell Wilson, I don’t think it was the perfect fit.”

Since the Steelers likely made that decision with at least a few games to go in the regular season, it seems questionable why they didn’t make a move back to Fields. It would have given the more athletic signal caller a chance to stop Pittsburgh’s losing streak.

The Steelers seem likely to look for another quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft. Fields has shown excellent skills in his four years in the NFL — three with the Bears and one with the Steelers — but consistency and accuracy have not been his strong suits to this point in his career.